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Twins, Angels match young arms in rubber game

Apr 2, 2008 - 12:56 PM LA Angels (1-1) at Minnesota (1-1) 8:10 pm EDT

MINNEAPOLIS (Ticker) - With both clubs going through some rotation turmoil, the Minnesota Twins and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim each turn to a young arm when they meet in the rubber game of a three-game series Wednesday at the Metrodome.

The Twins are still trying to find an ace after trading two-time Cy Young award winner Johan Santana to the New York Mets in the offseason and sending Francisco Liriano to the minors for some extra seasoning.

The Angels are without the services of their top two starters from last season, John Lackey and Kelvim Escobar. Lackey is expected back at the end of the month, while Escobar is likely done for the year with a shoulder injury.

Anaheim got a boost on Tuesday when the newest member of its rotation - Jon Garland - induced 17 groundball outs in eight solid innings during a 9-1 victory.

Minnesota will hand the ball to rookie Nick Blackburn, the club's top pitching prospect. The righthander earned a spot in the rotation by posting a 2.25 ERA in 16 innings this spring.

Blackburn, 26, made six appearances out of the bullpen for the Twins last season, going 0-2 with a 7.71 ERA.

The Angels will counter with Joe Saunders, who bounced back and forth between the rotation and the minor leagues last season. The 26-year-old lefthander went 8-5 with a 4.44 ERA in 18 starts in 2007.

New Anaheim center fielder Torii Hunter, who signed a five year, $90 million contract in the offseason after spending the past 11 seasons with the Twins, is 0-for-8 after two games.