Phil Hughes (1-2, 4.42) vs. Tanner Roark (1-2, 3.71) – 1:05 p.m., MASN
After spending his first seven seasons with the New York Yankees, Hughes has been with the Twins each of the past three years. Last season, Hughes made 25 starts and went 11-9 with a 4.40 ERA.
Even though Hughes is off to a 1-2 start, the 29-year-old right-hander has given up three earned runs and gone at least six innings in each of his three starts. In his last outing against the Brewers on Monday, he went six innings, gave up those three earned runs (four total) on six hits, struck out six, and walked two on 88 pitches.
Even though Target Field usually helps pitchers, if you look at the three years, Hughes’ home ERA of 4.72 is nearly a full run higher than his road ERA (3.74), but he has pitched in nine fewer road games. Hughes is 1-0 with a 1.13 ERA in two games (one start) against the Nats when he was with the Yankees. Bryce Harper is 1-for-3 against him in his career.
When you look at Tanner Roark’s last start against the Marlins, he once again put the Nats in an early hole. He gave up four runs in the first two innings and the offense could not recover against Jose Fernandez. Roark went six innings, gave up five runs (four earned runs) on seven hits, struck out two, and walked two in the loss.
If it weren’t for some great defensive plays by Bryce Harper and Anthony Rendon, that number could have been higher than four earned runs. But, at the same time, he was able to get 17 groundball outs against a good lineup.
Roark has shown some good signs under new pitching coach Mike Maddux, but it will be interesting to see how the Twins adjust to facing him the second time after he faced them in the exhibition back on April 1. In that game, he went four innings, gave up three runs on seven hits (four doubles), and struck out four.
Prediction: In this matchup, I am going to take the Twins because of the consistency Hughes has shown. The Twins know which pitcher is going to show up. The question for the Nats is whether the Roark from the Braves start shows up or the one from the two outings against Miami.
Next: Sunday's Matchup