Ah, this baseball air is as thick as my aunt's meatloaf, but let's dive into this upcoming balloon fight between the Cincinnati Reds and Minnesota Twins, shall we?
Striding onto the mound for the Reds, we have Rhett Lowder. This man's so cool he could make a refrigerator sweat. His ERA is a chilly 0.60, WHIP at 1.26, and his Strikeouts-per-nine-innings is a sturdy 7.2 - certainly not a stat to sniff at.
Contrasting to Lowder, we have the Twins' pitcher, David Festa - a gentlemen with a slightly less impressive ERA of 5.18. With his WHIP at 1.27 and K/9 at 11.1, he’s not the kind of pitcher you’d leave your daughter with.
Look at the Reds and their stars - they glitter like a country music award winner's belt buckle. Tyler Stephenson is showing off a .300 batting average, and TJ Friedl, although with a fluctuating .233 batting average, has racked up 20 RBIs and chucked in 4 homers.
The Twin's turf, however, isn't devoid of talent. We have guys like Kyle Farmer with a batting average of .310 and the explosive but less consistent Matt Wallner, holding a .220 average but with a knack for the dramatic, crushing 6 home runs this season.
Tangoing with the twins at Target Field might seem daunting, but remember, this park has a slightly pitcher-oriented bias. This should position Lowder and his ice-cold ERA nicely, won’t it?
It looks like the Twins domination over the Reds in the past has been as certain as a toupee in a hurricane. But lately, well, it seems like the tables have perhaps turned a bit. Remember those 11-1 and 8-4 victories of the Reds over the Twins recently? Also, the Reds are only five games behind the Twinkies in the Wins column.
So, let’s round up the troops and hit the gamble.
Albert’s Prediction: Cincinnati Reds by 2