The Long and Winding Road Trip

Here are some of the home/road splits for the Twins pitching staff this season. Scary stuff.

Home ERA - 3.28, 3rd in AL
Road ERA - 5.43, 13th in AL

Home BAA - .256, 7th in AL
Road BAA - .299, 14th in AL

Home WHIP - 1.23, 4th in AL
Road WHIP - 1.52, 11th in AL

Home Win/Loss - 46-23
Road Win/Loss - 26-31

The Twins play 24 of their next 30 games on the road. The opposition includes the two best teams in the AL, the Tampa Bay Rays and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Just call yourself the California Angels, it would be easier. Thankfully there are teams like the Mariners, A's, and Indians on upcoming trips. The Twins are in the midst of playing seventeen games in seventeen days with the last eleven on the road. Beginning tonight in Anaheim, the next eleven games will be a huge indication of the Twins staying power in the playoff race. If the Twins are able to win five or six of these upcoming games, it will be a success. Hopefully the White Sox won't role off a ten game winning streak over the next two weeks.

Winning on the road is doable. The Twins hitters have been consistently good in all ballparks this season. They have the second best road batting average in the American League and the fifth best on-base percentage. Only teams with monster lineups like the Red Sox and Rangers have hit better on the road. The pressure all falls squarely on the pitching staff. A 5.43 earned run average on the road is pitiful. It would be easy and fun to blame Livan Hernandez for the poor road numbers. He was awful. But every pitcher in the rotation has worse numbers on the road. Glen Perkins has the highest home ERA in the rotation at 3.91. The best road ERA in the rotation is 4.40, belonging to Kevin Slowey. You know you have problems on the road when every pitchers road ERA is worse than the fifth starters home ERA. The bullpen has been poor on the road as well. All you need to do is Google Matt Guerrier and look at his splits. Where's Latroy Hawkins when you need him?

Tonight Scott Baker takes the mound against one of the best pitchers in the game, John Lackey. A victory would be a great surprise in the morning and the perfect way to start off the road trip. A seven inning outing from Baker would be the right tone to set for the rest of the rotation. The Twins season hangs in the balance on this road trip, and winning on the road boils down to the pitching. If the pitching chokes, the White Sox might watch the Twins fade in their rear view mirror. If the pitching kills, the Twins will be gaining on the White Sox faster than T. Rex gained on Jeff Goldblum. This time, T. Rex will eat Jeff Goldblum.