Game No. 92 Preview: Houston Astros vs. Minnesota Twins

Houston Astros (61-30) vs. Minnesota Twins (46-44), July 16, 2017, 1:10 p.m. CT

TV: AT&T SportsNet-SW
Radio: KBME 790 AM, La Nueva 94.1 FM
Online: MLB.TV
Twins SBNation Blog: Twinkie Town

Pitching Matchup

RHP Mike Fiers (5-4, 3.84 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, .269 BABIP, 4.46 xFIP) vs. RHP Kyle Gibson (5-7, 6.31 ERA, 1.77 WHIP, .335 BABIP, 5.04 xFIP)

Preview

The Houston Astros have lost their 30th game. Not many expected for the Astros to have 60-plus wins before they reached that mark. But I don't think many Astros fans are complaining about that missed prognostication.

The Astros again aim for their 62nd win and to go 5-1 against the Twins on Sunday with Mike Fiers on the mound.

Fiers has been a savor with the numerous injures to the starting rotation. He made adjustments to his arm slot and it had a major impact on his breaking pitches. He was 3-1 with a 2.32 ERA in five starts in June. But the league started to show signs that they had adjusted to Fiers in July. He has given up eight walks over his first two starts this month, nearly matching his total all of June (9).

Fiers faced the Twins on May 30, he allowed two earned runs on five hits over six innings.

Kyle Gibson, a Missouri product, gets the start for the Twins on Sunday. He was 3-2 with a 4.24 ERA in the month of June. In July, he has been up and down in two starts. He allowed two earned runs on five hits over 6 2/3 against the Angels on July 4. He followed that up by allowing seven runs on nine hits over four innings against Baltimore.

Offensive Trends

Brian Dozier has 20 career at-bats against Fiers, going 5-for-20 with two home runs. Eddie Rosario had 12 at-bats against Fiers, and he is 3-for-12 with a double and six strikeouts. Miguel Sano is 1-for-8 against Fiers.

Jose Altuve is 4-for-12 with zero strikeouts against Kyle Gibson. Marwin Gonzalez is 0-for-8.