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Minnesota Twins Looking to Buck Historic Trend as ALDS Hits Game 4 Wednesday

As the ALDS thunders into Game 4 on Wednesday night, the Minnesota Twins are trying to reverse an organizational trend by staving off elimination.
Brady Farkas|
Minnesota Twins Looking to Buck Historic Trend as ALDS Hits Game 4 Wednesday
Minnesota Twins Looking to Buck Historic Trend as ALDS Hits Game 4 Wednesday

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Minnesota Twins

The Minnesota Twins are looking to stave off elimination on Wednesday night in Game 4 of the American League Division Series.

The Twins, who lost 9-1 on Tuesday afternoon, will take on the Houston Astros at 7:07 p.m. at Target Field.

The Twins trail the series two-games-to-one and are looking to force a Game 5.

Per @OptaSTATS on social media:

The Twins have lost their last nine postseason games when facing elimination dating back to 2002. 

That is the second longest losing streak of its kind in MLB history, behind Cleveland’s current 11-game streak.

That's certainly not a great history, but the Twins already broke their drought of 18 straight playoff losses earlier this postseason, so maybe they can vanquish multiple playoff demons in 2023.

If they are going to do it, they are going to need a big performance from right-hander Joe Ryan. 

Ryan has yet to appear in a game this postseason and hasn't pitched since Sept. 29. He went 11-10 this season in 29 games, posting a 4.51 ERA. He possesses very good raw "stuff," having struck out 197 batters in 161.2 innings.

That could certainly help him against an Astros lineup that features elite bats like Yordan Alvarez, Kyle Tucker, Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman. 

Lifetime, Ryan is 26-19 with a 4.05 ERA.

On the other side for Houston will be 28-year-old Jose Urquidy. He's 3-2 in his playoff career with a 3.72 ERA, having appeared in 12 games.

This regular season he went 3-3 with a 5.29 ERA in 16 games.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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