With perhaps the most frustrating road trip of their season in the rearview mirror Jarius Wright Jersey , the Minnesota Twins return home Thursday looking to get back on track in the opener of a four-game series against the Baltimore Orioles at Target Field.
Minnesota went 1-8 on their I-94 excursion that began by dropping two of three to the Chicago White Sox and ended with sweeps by the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers. As a result, the Twins now sit 13 games under .500 and 12 games behind American League Central-leading Cleveland, holding down third place in the division.
“I think we’re all frustrated,” manager Paul Molitor said after the Brewers hit three solo home runs in a 3-2 victory over the Twins at Miller Park on Wednesday. “You win one game and you’re on the road for 10 days, playing good teams.
“We’re creating some of our own problems. At the same time, we’re not catching a lot of breaks. We’ll get home, looking forward to that. Have a nice homestand before the break. We’ll try to get these guys ready for a series with Baltimore tomorrow.”
The Twins will turn to Aaron Slegers (0-0, 3.38 ERA) for his first start of the season in the hopes of turning things around.
He has made just one other major league appearance this season, allowing two runs over 5 1/3 innings of relief May 30 at Kansas City. He has a 5.66 ERA in five career outings, including three starts, in the big leagues overall. Slegers has never faced Baltimore.
Like the Twins, the Orioles come into the series looking to snap out of a slump. They have lost nine of their last 10 games Sean Lee Jersey , including two in a row to Philadelphia this week.
Manager Buck Showalter still has confidence his team can turn things around.
“There are some really good people in that locker room and I’d really like to see them get a return, but you can’t will it. You can’t just hope it,” said Showalter. “It’s got to be one pitch at a time. You can’t look at the big picture.”
Andrew Cashner (2-8, 4.48) gets the start for Baltimore on Thursday, and he is looking for his first victory since May 21. He has a 3.21 ERA over his last five outings, four of which were quality starts.
Keeping the ball in the park has been a big reason for that recent run of success. Cashner had allowed 11 home runs through his first nine starts but only three over his last seven — and none his last time out when he held the Los Angeles Angels to a run on four hits and a pair of walks while striking out four over six innings of work.
“That’s what I try to do every time I take the mound, just keep the team in the game and grind it out, no matter if it’s pretty or ugly,” Cashner told the Baltimore Sun. “Just try to get through the seventh. Maybe next time I’ll get through the seventh. I thought I got stronger as I went along. The breaking stuff was better, the offspeed was better. Something to build on as we go and keep moving forward.”
Cashner will be making his first career start at Target Field but is 0-2 with a 6.00 ERA in two previous starts against the Twins, who tagged him for five runs (four earned) over five innings on March 31 in Baltimore.
When Pete Carroll decided to overhaul his coaching staff after last year's flop, it was clear he wanted different voices in the ears of his key players.
Or in the case of the Seahawks defense Charles Leno Jersey , a familiar voice coming from a different perspective.
Of all the changes made by the Seahawks since the end of last season, the most significant may end up being the addition of new offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, offensive line coach Mike Solari and defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. It was a shake-up that may be just what the team needed.
"Players are taking to the challenge of learning and adapting to stuff, coaches are adapting to players 鈥?there's a lot going on," Carroll said. "But it's been very energetic, very upbeat, not unlike what it should feel like in our program, but maybe even more so than ever, or at least, in the last few years."
The most significant change is on offense, where for the first time in his career Russell Wilson is getting direction from someone other than former offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell or former quarterbacks coach Carl Smith. Schottenheimer is both of those in one, something Carroll wanted to streamline the process for Wilson and perhaps hold the quarterback accountable in a different way than in the past.
For Schottenheimer Allen Hurns Jersey , it's a chance to work with a quarterback he watched from the other sideline during his three years working with the Rams.
"I've admired Russell 鈥?his playmaking ability, but yet the ability to throw the football and create plays when things break down. That's hard to teach," Schottenheimer said. "It's hard to teach a guy to run around and make people miss and find an open guy in the end zone. That was something that was really exciting for me is to get here and to work with a guy like that, that has done so well thus far. Just try to coach him up on some new fundamentals and techniques and see what he likes."
While Schottenheimer is completely new to Seattle, Norton and Solari have spent time here before. Solari hasn't been around since 2009. But he brings a solid track record as an offensive line coach 鈥?a position where the Seahawks need help. While Tom Cable was lauded early in his Seattle tenure, the offensive line became a flash point for frustration and often the reason the Seahawks offense struggled in recent years.
"He's very big on attention to detail, very big on technique," offensive tackle Duane Brown said. "Me, going into my 11th year, I feel like there's some things that I need to sharpen up to continue to play at a high level and he's definitely hammering points down for me. I think he's going to be very great for the younger guys."
Norton's return, taking the place of Kris Richard, was exceedingly popular among at least one position group in Seattle's locker room. Before Norton left to become the defensive coordinator in Oakland Ramik Wilson Jersey , he was the Seahawks linebackers coach. So Bobby Wagner, K.J. Wright and the rest of Seattle's linebackers group was thrilled to get their former position coach back, but now with even more authority over the defense. Ultimately the defensive system is still based around Carroll's philosophy, but Wagner is itching to see what Norton does.
"We went through a lot those first three years and obviously I paid close attention when he left and we stayed in touch," Wagner said. "When I heard he was coming back I had a lot of joy and a lot of excitement because I felt like we had a little bit of unfinished business. It's good to have him back, it's good to have that mind back because he's helped me more than just a player (but) as a person and I'm excited to grow with him."
NOTES: Carroll said Thursday after Seattle wrapped up its final OTA practice that he expects everyone in attendance at next week's mandatory minicamp. That would include S Earl Thomas, DE Frank Clark and CB Byron Maxwell, who have been absent from the voluntary sessions. ... DE Dion Jordan has not participated in OTAs after having a minor follow up procedure done on his knee, Carroll said. The team hopes he's ready for the start of training camp in late July.
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