Two teams playing out the string meet for a Wednesday matinee at Comerica Park, with both clubs already looking more at 2027 than October.
WED SEP 9, 1:10 PM
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WIN
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Twins
Tigers
Wednesday's 1:10 PM ET first pitch is a rematch of a rotation battle these two just ran a week earlier, only this time Zebby Matthews and Keider Montero are the ones on the mound instead of watching from the dugout. Matthews comes in 9-9 with a 4.69 ERA, and his last time out against the White Sox went sideways fast — 4 earned runs in 5 innings with only 4 strikeouts against a lineup that shouldn't be giving him that much trouble. Montero has quietly been the better arm by ERA at 3.52, but his last start was rougher than the number suggests: 6 earned runs in just 4 innings against Cleveland before Detroit's bullpen had to mop up.
The bigger story for Minnesota is who isn't walking into that batter's box. Byron Buxton went on the 10-day IL for a right hip impingement, and the type of injury and where it sits on the calendar makes him a real bet to not play again this season. Austin Martin is also out with a hamstring strain, which means the Twins are piecing together an outfield mix on the fly in September — never the spot a fading team wants to be playing from.
Detroit isn't exactly whole either. Jack Flaherty is working his way back on a rehab assignment rather than pitching in the majors, and Justin Verlander remains out as he continues to build back arm strength. Add it up and neither rotation is running at full strength, which is worth knowing before anyone reads too much into either team's recent scores.
Minnesota dropped Monday's series opener 4-5 in Detroit, and the two clubs play again Tuesday before this one — so whatever shape the series takes shape in by Wednesday afternoon is still being written. What is settled is the shape of each team's season: the Twins sit at 68-76, the Tigers at 66-78, and both clubs are well removed from anything resembling a playoff race with three weeks left on the schedule.
None of that makes this a game to circle on the calendar, but it's still useful late-season theater — a look at whether Montero can find the version of himself that shut Minnesota out for 6.1 innings back in June, and whether the Twins' patchwork outfield can scrape together enough offense to back Matthews. For two teams with nothing on the line beyond pride and roster auditions, that's plenty of reason to watch.
