4/11/22: Open Game Thread

Yesterday was... not so great. Giving up six homers and losing by half a dozen runs is never fun. The good news, though, is that that somehow wasn’t the series finale. I’m pretty sure I have never seen a series end on a Monday in my twelve years of fandom. In any case, it’s Chris Flexen’s turn to make his season debut, with a somewhat different lineup than the past few days.

That’s four different DHs in four games - this time it’s Adam Frazier’s turn. Abraham Toro gets the start at second, and most notably, Jarred Kelenic has the evening off. Although Scott Servais mentioned he had the first several lineups of the year pre-written, one has to wonder if Kelenic’s scuffles to start the season played a factor in sitting him. Cal Raleigh is also behind the dish, confirming my theory that both he and Toro are in to stack lefties against the shell of Dylan Bundy.

The last time Flexen faced off against the Twins, he delivered the best game of his career, throwing eight shutout innings with no walks and eight strikeouts on June 15th in Seattle. If he can bring anything close to that tonight, the M’s stand a good chance of taking the series. Winning three out of four with a negative run differential would be both lovely and familiar, so let’s hope for that, huh? Or a blowout win. Those are fun, too.

Game Time: 4:40pm PDT

TV: ROOT Sports NW, MLB.tv for out-of-market viewers

Radio: 710 Seattle Sports Station, MLB At Bat