The Minnesota Twins will hand out Hall of Famer Kirby Puckett No. 34 jerseys to the first 10,000 fans who arrive for Saturday’s game against the Athletics.

Expect the team to play some highlights on the scoreboard of Puckett’s biggest hits, regardless of whether or not the Twins’ lineup is able to deliver some of their own in real time.

Minnesota will try to bounce back from a sleepy performance at the plate when it faces the Athletics in the second contest of a three-game set in Minneapolis.

The Twins are coming off a 2-0 loss against the Athletics in Friday’s series opener. Minnesota managed only two hits in the game: a double by Austin Martin and a single by Ryan Jeffers.

Twins manager Derek Shelton hopes that his hitters can bounce back one day later.

“We had (seven) walks, we had two hit-by-pitches, and we hit into (three) double plays,” Shelton said. “I think that was the story of the game. We just couldn’t get a big hit to break it open.”

Athletics right-hander Mason Barnett (1-0, 4.64 ERA) will try to maintain his team’s hot pitching in the second game of the series. He is slated to make his first start of the season and the sixth of his brief career.

Barnett has 21 strikeouts in 21 1/3 innings out of the bullpen this season. This will be his first career appearance against the Twins.

Minnesota had not named its starting pitcher as of early Saturday morning. The Twins plan to save ace right-hander Joe Ryan for Sunday’s series finale.

Martin could get another turn in the Twins lineup after being one of the few players to stand out in Friday’s series opener. Shelton praised his patience at the plate as well as his contributions in left field, where he started alongside center fielder Byron Buxton and right fielder Luke Keaschall.

Martin is hitting .241 this season and boasts a .356 on-base percentage. He hit leadoff Friday with Buxton in the No. 2 spot and Jeffers batting third.

“Good at-bats tonight,” Shelton said. “Two walks and a double. He made two really good plays in the outfield. It was a good game from Austin.

“We played well defensively, too. We did a nice job. But, again, we couldn’t break through offensively.”

Athletics left fielder Tyler Soderstrom will look to stay hot at the plate. He went 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI on Friday, and he has three homers and eight RBIs in his past nine games.

Athletics manager Mark Kotsay praised Soderstrom for his recent approach.

“‘Sody’ is a big part of this group,” Kotsay said. “He puts a lot of pressure on himself. He expects to get hits every time he’s up. (That was) a big hit.”

Another player who has stood out for the Athletics is left-hander Hogan Harris, who picked up his eighth save Friday. He has 61 strikeouts in 45 2/3 innings.

Minnesota will try to gain ground in the American League wild-card race on Saturday as the team’s front office continues to evaluate whether to buy, sell or stand pat at the upcoming trade deadline. The Twins are three games out of the last wild-card spot.

–Field Level Media

The Atlanta Braves have found ways to boost their stock recently, even as they wait for one of their key players to return to the lineup.

The Braves will visit the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday night in the second game of a three-game series.

Atlanta used late-inning breakthroughs to produce a 7-6, 10-inning victory Friday night to move to 6-2 since the All-Star break.

The Braves, though, are 16-20 without injured outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr., who had been projected to be ready to play at some point during the series in Baltimore. Instead, he had his rehab assignment with Triple-A Gwinnett extended for at least another day.

Acuna has been out since June 10 because of a strained hamstring. He has a .251 batting average, seven homers and 22 RBIs in 53 games this season.

“He’ll let us know when he feels like he’s ready to go,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said. “… He’s been away from the game for a long time. So he’s going to have to get quite a few at-bats, I’m sure, before he feels like he can come up here and hit the ground running.”

The Braves have other producers, such as Drake Baldwin, who’s putting together another strong season after winning National League Rookie of the Year in 2025.

In his 80th game this season, Baldwin hit his 20th home run Friday night, eclipsing last year’s 19-homer total, which came in 124 games.

As for the Orioles, they have found production with a team newcomer. What infielder Christian Encarnacion-Strand has provided since his promotion from Triple-A Norfolk has been a jolt for the offense.

Encarnacion-Strand has homered three times across five games with Baltimore. He ended the scoring on Friday with a two-run smash in the 10th.

The Braves never led until the 10th inning Friday, so in the aftermath it will be another test on the emotional barometer for the Orioles.

“Our players know what’s at stake,” manager Craig Albernaz said. “Also, they’ve done a great job of navigating this season through the ups and the downs of never wavering their confidence, how they go about their business.”

The Orioles were bemoaning a defensive snafu with second baseman Jackson Holliday’s errant throw — following his diving stop to gain possession of the ball — opening the way for Atlanta’s four-run 10th inning.

“I made a good play and made a terrible throw,” Holliday said. “So got to finish the play.”

The Braves will have right-hander Bryce Elder (6-6, 4.06 ERA) on the mound Saturday in only his third outing of July. He was the winning pitcher Monday in a 3-2 victory against the San Diego Padres, giving up two runs and five hits over six-plus innings. This will be his 20th start of the season.

Elder, who owns a 30-30 overall career record, doesn’t have a decision against Baltimore. His only matchup vs. the Orioles lasted 5 1/3 innings, as he gave up one run in a 3-2 win in extra innings on May 7, 2023.

Right-hander Brandon Young (8-2, 3.25 ERA) will start for Baltimore on Saturday. He’s 3-0 across his past five starts, lasting seven innings in each of his past two.

Young, in his second season, has never faced the Braves, but Baltimore is 4-1 against National League teams this year when Young pitches.

For the Orioles, this will be the middle game of a three-game homestand, marking their only three home games during a 12-game stretch since play resumed after the All-Star break.

–Field Level Media

The Milwaukee Brewers will look to bounce back behind left-hander Robert Gasser and even their three-game series on Saturday night against the visiting Colorado Rockies, who are within one victory of matching their win total for all of last season.

Gasser (2-4, 4.91 ERA) will oppose right-hander Ryan Feltner (3-4, 5.48).

Colorado won the series opener 5-2 on Friday behind Tomoyuki Sugano, who scattered six hits — allowing two runs on a pair of solo homers — in 5 1/3 innings to improve to 6-0 over his last seven starts.

Christian Yelich and Brice Turang had solo homers for the Brewers, who lost for just the second time following the All-Star break.

Milwaukee has a six-game lead over the second-place Chicago Cubs in the National League Central and is 1 1/2 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers for the best record in the majors.

Gasser bounced back from a poor start and pitched effectively his last time out, allowing one run on three hits in five innings, but did not get a decision in a 3-1 win over Miami on Sunday.

Gasser was tagged for seven runs in three innings in the start before that, a 14-5 loss to Pittsburgh on July 12.

“Not a ton different physically, I just executed it better, especially early getting the fastball at the top of the zone,” Gasser said following his last start.

Opponents are batting .242 against Gasser, who will face the Rockies for the first time.

Prior to Friday’s game, the Brewers activated infielder David Hamilton from the injured list and designated infielder Braden Shewmake for assignment.

Hamilton, on the IL since July 7 with a strained left hamstring, was in the starting lineup at third base in the series opener, going hitless in three at-bats.

The Rockies improved to 42-63 with their win in the series opener, one victory shy of their win total from last season, when they finished 43-119, worst in the majors and 50 games behind the first-place Dodgers in the NL West.

TJ Rumfield remained hot for the Rockies with two hits in the opener after entering as a pinch hitter in the seventh inning. Rumfield is batting .333 (21-for-63) with four doubles, a homer and eight RBI in 19 games in July.

Feltner has lost each of his last two starts, allowing 12 runs on 13 hits in 6 2/3 innings. He lasted just 2 1/3 innings his last time out, giving up eight runs on seven hits with four walks in a 9-6 loss to Cincinnati on Sunday.

Feltner has given up 14 home runs in 65 2/3 innings, including three against the Reds.

“Today, I thought the command wasn’t real good at all,” Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer said following Feltner’s last start. “He wasn’t sharp. The walks hurt, and then obviously the homers. The off-speed pitches were hung. Just not a lot of command with the off-speed stuff today, and he got hurt for it.”

Feltner is 1-1 with a 2.67 ERA in six career starts vs. Milwaukee. He faced the Brewers in June, allowing one run on one hit in six innings, but did not get the decision a 9-7, 10-inning loss.

–Field Level Media