MLB News: Brewers, Twins both recovering from bad starts

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MILWAUKEE - It was only a few weeks ago when the Minnesota Twins had the worst record in baseball. But the Milwaukee Brewers say a sleeping giant has awakened – and the Crew says they’ll be ready when they open a home Interleague series with the Twins tomorrow night.

Minnesota has won 15-of-its-last-18 – and they won eight-in-a-row before losing by four runs at San Francisco last night. Going into that game, Minnesota’s Delmon Young has been hitting .329 this month with four doubles and a homer. And tomorrow night’s starter for the Twins, Scott Baker, is coming off two solid outings. He threw eight scoreless innings last time out against San Diego. Milwaukee still leads the National League Central by a half-game, despite losing seven of its last 10. The Brewers are off today, while the Twins have one more game on the West Coast against the Giants. And the Twins should get to Milwaukee before midnight – so fatigue shouldn’t hurt them tomorrow night. Besides, the Brewers should be tired enough after playing 20 games in the last 20 days. Milwaukee leads the National League Central by a half-game over Saint Louis, despite losing seven-of-their-last-10.

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The Milwaukee Brewers are enjoying their first off-day in almost three weeks. And left-fielder Ryan Braun says he won’t obsess over the 14-game hitting streak he now has. Braun is the only Major Leaguer to have three hitting streaks of 10 games or longer this season. The one before this ended on May 23rd, when he was ejected in the third inning of a home contest against Washington. Braun says the key is be consistent with his approach at the plate, and to resist going after bad pitches even when he’s in a slump – when hitters are most likely to overreach. Braun keeps hitting despite the fact that he’s not been feeling his best. He sat out Monday night’s loss to Tampa Bay with an upper respiratory infection that bugged him for a couple days previously. Braun says he keeps feeling better each day.

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Brewers’ veteran outfielder Mark Kotsay says he won’t be leaving to become the next head coach at his college alma mater. Kotsay said he laughed when his father called him, and said there was speculation about him being the new coach at Cal State-Fullerton. He said the school never contacted him about the possibility – but he was honored if his name did come up. Kotsay says he’d like to have a coaching career when he’s done playing. But his playing days are not over, and he says the Brewers shouldn’t worry about him leaving for the college ranks. Kotsay led Cal State-Fullerton to an NCAA championship in 1995, and he won the Golden Spikes Award that year as college baseball’s best player. The 35-year-old Kotsay is in his 15th Major League season, and was signed by Milwaukee last winter. He’s hitting .234 in a reserve role with a .310 on-base percentage in 51 games.

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