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The Twins and Yankees both jumped off to quick second half starts in hopes of staying in the playoff race. Minnesota took two out of three from the Rangers at home while the Yankees sweep the A's in New York. The Twins travel to New York to start this series after having lost 1-0 in the final game of the Texas series. The Yankees held off A's ace Justin Duchscherer to win 2-1 yesterday. On the hill for Minnesota this evening is Nick Blackburn. Blackburn is one of the promising young Twins pitchers that has them in the thick of the AL Central race. He has had a few rough starts on the year, but overall his performance has been outstanding. His ERA is 3.65 and he has seven wins on the season. Tonight he will look to control what has been a mild mannered 2008 Yankee offense. Minnesota is 6-4 in their last 10 road games which included them being sweep in Boston. Over those 10 games the Twins posted 4.4 runs per game and while yielding 4.9 runs per game. Eighteen of the 49 runs allowed by Minnesota in that stretch came in one game against the Red Sox. Countering Blackburn is veteran Sidney Ponson. Ponson, who was with Minnesota last year, started the year with the Rangers before being snagged off waivers by New York. He sports a 3.98 ERA and is 5-1 on the year. The Netherlands native has shown flashes of what he used to be but his season has been peppered with inconsistency. However, the Yankees have not lost a game in which the big man started. New York has been red hot at home as of late. They are 8-2 in their last 10 at Yankee Stadium and, surprisingly, they have dominated with pitching. In their last nine home games, the Yankees have held teams to just 2.67 runs per game while they themselves have averaged a meager 3.44.
Tonight's game should be a good one between two playoff caliber teams. BetUS.com has the Twins at +125 money line odds while the Yankees are listed at -145. The total for the contest is set at 9 (over -115/under -105).
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