PNC Park has been kind to the Twins

They say there is no place like home, unless you’re talking about the Minnesota Twins. For them, there is no place like PNC Park, where Minnesota will play two games against the Pirates on Wednesday and Thursday.

Maybe it’s the backdrop of the Allegheny River or just pure randomness but the Twins have the second-best record at PNC Park among American League teams since the ballpark opened in 2001.

Minnesota is 7-3 in games at that stadium, a record behind only the Seattle Mariners at 8-2. For what it’s worth, Pittsburgh is 69-88 in interleague games in its own park.

The Twins’ road success has not been limited to PNC Park, either. Since 2019, Minnesota is 57-27 in road games, which is the best in MLB.

If Minnesota can get a win Wednesday night and move to 10-2 then it will be off to its best start in team history. The Twins started 9-3 in 1961, 1972, 2001, and 2010 and the only other time they’ve started 9-2 was in 2001.

Other Notes

—    Randy Dobnak is making his eighth regular-season start for the Twins and through his first seven regular-season starts he has posted a 1.59 ERA, which is the best mark of any Minnesota pitcher over that span.

—    Kenta Maeda will take the mound for Minnesota in the second game of the series and that should be unwelcomed news for Pittsburgh’s right-handed hitters. Maeda has allowed an OPS of .542 to righties since 2019, the third-lowest OPS allowed to right-handed hitters in MLB (min. 300 RHH faced) behind only Atlanta’s Mike Sokora and Washington’s Max Scherzer.

—    As we all know, Nelson Cruz has been absolutely incredible this season. In fact, Cruz has driven in a run once every 3.07 plate appearances, which is third-best in MLB among players with at least 25 plate appearances and at least one RBI.

Statistics courtesy of Sportradar