The Twins try to gain on the Yankees for the first wild card slot in the AL as Ervin Santana visits Jaime Garcia. Santana provides a nice example of how a pitcher can post similar ERAs in consecutive years with very different results. In 2016, Santana went 7-11 in 30 starts with a 3.38 ERA. This season, he is 15-7 in 30 starts with a 3.35 ERA. In 2016, they Twins averaged 4.46 runs per game. In 2017, 5.00 runs per game. The Twins won the Garcia trade by dumping him on the Yankees after one start. With New York, he allowed five home runs and 17 walks in 29 1/3 innings.

Milwaukee is the only one of the second wild card/NL Central contenders in action on Monday. They send Brent Suter against James Taillon of the Pirates. The Brewers starters have been on a good roll over the last month, 11-7 in 26 starts with a 3.27 ERA. Note that they don’t go deep in starts, hence the eight no decisions. They’ve done a great job in that time of keeping the ball in the park, with just eight home runs allowed in 134 2/3 innings. Taillon problems in 2017 comes at home, where he posts a 5.37 ERA versus 3.94 on the road. It’s not clear why, but he allows many more hits in Pittsburgh.

Enjoy!