Tails stuck firmly behind their legs, the Twins come home following a 1-7 road trip. Awaiting them is Shohei Ohtani.

Ohtani is 13-8 with a 2.43 ERA. He leads the American League with 11.92 strikeouts per nine innings. Ohtani is trying to win back-to-back MVP honors. Probably only Aaron Judge stands in his way of achieving that.

Minnesota has failed to break the four-run barrier in nine of its last 10 games. The Twins have lost 15 of their past 21 games.

Injuries have played a part in the Twins' collapse. They are minus six starters from opening day, including Byron Buxton, Jorge Polanco and Max Kepler. They have 18 players on the injured list.

Pitcher Louie Varland is among the fill-ins. He gets the start here. He's 0-1 with a 5.23 ERA. This will be Varland's third big league start. His previous start occurred against the Guardians six days ago. That didn't go well. Varland gave up four earned runs in five innings on nine hits while walking two.