Twins turn to David Festa in pivotal meeting with Marlins

The Minnesota Twins understand that all of their remaining matchups might be must-win games if they want to make the playoffs.

The Twins' latest crucial game will be Thursday night when they host the Miami Marlins in the rubber match of a three-game series in Minneapolis.

Minnesota (82-76) is coming off an 8-3 win over Miami (58-100) on Wednesday night. The Twins remain two games behind the Kansas City Royals and Detroit Tigers in the chase for an American League wild-card playoff berth with only four games left.

Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said he was encouraged by his players' determination in Wednesday's win. Minnesota fell behind 3-0 in the top of the first inning but rallied with eight unanswered runs to secure the victory.

"There's some tough-mindedness there," Baldelli said. "The guys stayed at it. It's not easy when you are down and you're down early. It is a challenging thing.

"We almost pretend like it's not, but it is. The ability to refocus our attention on what we needed to do was very good."

Twins rookie right-hander David Festa (2-6, 4.80 ERA) is scheduled to take the mound Thursday for his 13th start of the season. He is searching for his first victory since Aug. 5 against the Chicago Cubs.

In his last outing, Festa received a no-decision on Friday after allowing one run on four hits in five innings against the Boston Red Sox. He walked three and struck out six. The Twins won 4-2 in 12 innings.

This will be Festa's first career start against Miami.

The Marlins are scheduled to counter with right-hander Valente Bellozo (3-4, 3.82 ERA). This also will be the rookie's 13th start of the season.

Bellozo is looking for back-to-back victories after earning a 4-3 win Friday against the Atlanta Braves in his most recent outing. He gave up three runs on seven hits in 5 1/3 innings.

The Marlins' rookie has yet to face Minnesota in his career. He has an 0-1 record with a 4.50 ERA in two career interleague starts.

Baldelli said the Twins could rely more on top relievers Griffin Jax and Jhoan Duran in the series finale. Both pitched in Wednesday's win, but Carlos Santana's bases-clearing single in the seventh inning boosted the lead to five and allowed Baldelli to not lean as heavily on his top bullpen arms.

"That hit was big," Baldelli said. "It allowed us to get those guys out without really having to stretch those two out. ... "Being able to grab an inning from (Justin) Topa right there becomes important. Because it leaves us in a better situation tomorrow with Jax and Duran."

Meanwhile, Marlins reliever Lake Bachar hopes for another opportunity to pitch. The 29-year-old threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings in the series opener and has nine strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings.

"It's a special moment for me," Bachar said. "Through the past nine years, I've always thought I could pitch at this level, and being trusted in those situations, I'm really grateful for that. Just to go out there and do what I need to do. It's a crazy whirlwind.

"I don't even think it'll really hit me until probably this offseason, the road it's taken me to get here and all that. But I'm just very grateful for every opportunity."

--Field Level Media