Surging Twins look to keep winning at Seattle The Minnesota Twins will take their fourth four-game winning streak of the season into a Saturday night road game against the Seattle Mariners.The American League Central leaders, who have yet to win five in a row, will have ace Jose Berrios (6-2, 3.05 ERA) on the mound.Berrios will be opposed by Wade LeBlanc (2-0, 4.50 ERA). The left-hander is scheduled to be activated off the injured list and make his first start since sustaining a Grade 2 strain of his right oblique in a 10-6 loss to the Houston Astros on April 12.LeBlanc is 0-0 with a 1.26 ERA in five career games (two starts) against Minnesota. He has allowed just seven hits and two runs in 14 1/3 innings against the Twins.Berrios had his streak of wins in five consecutive starts snapped with a 5-4 loss to the Los Angeles Angels on Monday, when he allowed five runs and a career-high 12 hits over 5 2/3 innings. It was the only time in nine starts this year that he didn't pitch at least six innings."As far as Jose, he's giving us so much and so many good starts," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. "So much consistency that you are going to run into some starts like this at some points, too." Berrios, who struggled with command for most of the game, also was a tad unlucky in the loss with three of the hits he allowed finding holes against infield shifts. Shohei Ohtani also drove a fastball in the middle of the plate 429 feet off the facing of the second deck in left-center for a two-run homer."That's part of the game," Berrios told MLB.com afterward. "Sometimes they hit it right in front of a guy, right to a guy. Sometimes they beat the shift like they did today. It's just part of the game. I just wanted to keep executing my game plan against them, and that's that. It's just part of the game." Berrios is 1-2 with a 4.05 ERA in three career starts against the Mariners, including 0-1 with a 2.45 ERA in one start in Seattle.The Twins, who hit four home runs in an 11-6 victory over the Mariners in the series opener on Thursday night, had just one by Ehire Adrianza in their 7-1 win on Friday night, the team's fifth consecutive road victory. Martin Perez held Seattle in check to improve to 6-1, allowing one run on five hits over 6 2/3 innings.One bright spot for Seattle was the batting of designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion, who went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a ground-rule double over the fence in right-center, the 350th double of his career.The 36-year-old veteran became the 74th player in major league history to have both 350 career home runs and doubles and joined Albert Pujols (Angels) and Miguel Cabrera (Tigers) as the only active players in that club."That says a lot," Seattle manager Scott Servais said. "I think what says a lot, too, is Edwin has had a few games where his timing has been off a little bit and he's out there early today at 2:30 taking extra swings, and it pays off in the ballgame tonight. ... He's a pro. Appreciate his effort and how he goes about it, and he can still swing the bat, too." --Field Level Media
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