{"id":660294,"date":"2026-04-03T05:18:18","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T05:18:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/660294\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T05:18:18","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T05:18:18","slug":"rays-aim-to-bounce-back-against-twins-in-series-opener","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/660294\/","title":{"rendered":"Rays Aim to Bounce Back Against Twins in Series Opener"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"AA cubist interpretation of the Rays and Twins battling it out on the diamond, reflecting the fractured nature of the early-season matchup.Minneapolis Today<\/p>\n

The Tampa Bay Rays (2-4) will travel to Minneapolis to take on the Minnesota Twins (1-4) in the first game of their weekend series at Target Field. The Rays are favored at -182 on the moneyline, while the Twins are +150 underdogs. Tampa Bay will send right-hander Joe Boyle to the mound, while Minnesota counters with righty Bailey Ober.<\/p>\n

Why it matters<\/p>\n

Both teams have struggled out of the gate this season, making this an important early-season matchup as they look to gain ground in the AL standings. The Rays will aim to get their offense going after scoring just 5 runs per game so far, while the Twins will try to find more consistency on the mound after posting a 5.05 team ERA.<\/p>\n

The details<\/p>\n

The Rays’ offense has shown some pop, hitting 6 home runs and 8 doubles, but they’ve also struck out 52 times. On the mound, Tampa Bay’s pitching staff has a 5.44 ERA, 28th in MLB. For the Twins, their bats have been quiet, batting just .210 as a team, though they’ve drawn 25 walks. Minnesota’s pitching has also struggled, with a 5.05 team ERA and 1.585 WHIP.<\/p>\n

The game will take place on Friday, April 3, 2026 at Target Field in Minneapolis.First pitch is scheduled for 7:40 PM local time.<\/p>\n

The players<\/p>\n

Joe Boyle<\/p>\n

The Rays’ starting pitcher, Boyle has a 4.90 ERA and 1.394 WHIP in his MLB career so far.<\/p>\n

Bailey Ober<\/p>\n

The Twins’ starting pitcher, Ober has a 4.10 ERA and 1.124 WHIP in his MLB career.<\/p>\n

Tampa Bay Rays<\/p>\n

The Rays are 2-4 on the season and looking to get their offense and pitching on track.<\/p>\n

Minnesota Twins<\/p>\n

The Twins are 1-4 and hoping to turn things around at home against the Rays.<\/p>\n

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\n What they\u2019re saying<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to start stringing some wins together if we want to stay in the playoff hunt. This series against the Twins is a big opportunity for us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014 Kevin Kiermaier, Rays Outfielder<\/p>\n

What\u2019s next<\/p>\n

The Rays and Twins will play the second game of their three-game series on Saturday, April 4 at 6:10 PM local time.<\/p>\n

The takeaway<\/p>\n

This early-season matchup between the Rays and Twins could set the tone for both teams as they look to bounce back from slow starts and position themselves for a playoff push. Strong performances from the starting pitchers and timely hitting will be key factors in determining the outcome.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Got story updates? Submit your updates here. \u203a A cubist interpretation of the Rays and Twins battling it…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":660295,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2388],"tags":[5,822,60,3190,4,148],"class_list":{"0":"post-660294","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-minnesota-twins","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-minnesota","10":"tag-minnesota-twins","11":"tag-minnesotatwins","12":"tag-mlb","13":"tag-twins"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116339089727339738","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660294","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=660294"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/660294\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/660295"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=660294"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=660294"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=660294"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}