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Coming off a rest day and with a 1.5 game lead over Chicago and Minnesota the Guardians roll into Target Field for the last time this season for a huge weekend series.
The injury-riddled Twins are 21-26 since the All-Star break but are hanging in there. Last night they pulled out a late win against the Yankees in New York to avoid a four-game sweep. They have lost six of eight. They appear to be running on fumes but a cornered rat is the most dangerous.
These teams are 3-3 this year in Minnesota. They have not played in over two months but will play eight games in the next 11 days. The next two weeks could be the Battle of Gettysburg for the A.L. Central. Cleveland leads the season series 6-5 but three of the wins have been decided by one run. The Twins have outscored the G’s by 61-45.
For the Twins Buxton, Polanco, Kepler, Jeffers, Sano, Lewis, and Larch are out. Those are just the position players. The pitching has also been ravaged; Ober, Rijo, Dobnack, Mahle, Maeda, Stashak, Coulumbe, and Paddack are on the IL. It’s incredible this team is still in it.
The Twins have hit Cleveland pitching very well this year with a line of .267/.830 and have averaged 5.5 runs per game - well above their season average of 4.4. Gio Urshela continues to punish his former team with a .326 average and 9 RBI’s in 11 games. Carlos Correa has hit .370 with four HR’s in eight games. OF Nick Gordon has hit .320 with two HR’s. They also have Luis Arraez, the league leader in batting average, but the G's have neutralized him pretty well so far.
The Twins’ bullpen had to pitch 13 innings in the last three days and the team had to fly in from New York after the game last night so the Guardians will be more rested, especially their bullpen. Having played four games in the last three days, including a 12-inning game, plus the travel, the Twins will be tired.
The other advantage is the Guardians will be starting their three best starters in Quantrill, McKenzie, and Bieber. The Twins are going with Bundy, Archer, and a fill-in or a bullpen day on Sunday. Quantrill and Bundy kick it off tonight.
Dylan Bundy is a 29-year-old right-hander with a record of 8-6, 4.34 ERA. For his career he is 54-63, 4.87. Bundy has really come on lately; in his last six starts his ERA is 2.17. In his last start he shut out the White Sox for five innings on two hits. However, in his last 12 starts his longest was 5.1 innings, so the Guardians should get at least four innings against the Twins’ bullpen tonight. The Twins bullpen has been average since the break but they did get extended a bit the last three nights.
Bundy gave up two runs in five innings in his start against the Guardians in June. He’s been outstanding at home with a 2.80 ERA against 5.28 on the road. We'll get him in Cleveland next weekend.
The third time through the order opponents are hitting .349 against him which explains why he never goes past five innings. With RISP batters are hitting .308 off him. Based on how well he’s been pitching recently and his excellent home ERA, not to mention the Guardians’ offensive struggles recently, I would guess runs will be hard to come by. I’ve been saying that a lot lately.
Steven Kwan is 3-for-3 against Bundy and Amed is 2-for-5 so maybe the top of the order can get things going tonight.
Cal Quantrill, 11-5, 3.55, goes for the G’s. Quantrill has been getting great run support this year and he’ll be facing a tired team with a lot of injuries, so I’m looking for a strong outing. Cal went 8 innings against the Twins in June, allowing 3 runs, including home runs to Kiriloff and Urshela. Kiriloff is out for the year.
McKenzie and Bieber close out the series. Chris Archer, who starts tomorrow, has never pitched beyond the 5th inning in 24 starts, so between Bundy tonight and Archer tomorrow the Twins bullpen should be looking at pitching at least eight more innings, and they could have a bullpen day Sunday (or bring up a minor leaguer).
One big key to this series is whether the Guardians can score late runs off the Twins overworked bullpen, which is third in the majors in innings pitched since the break and was really taxed the last three nights. It looks like they will have to throw a lot of innings this weekend as well. It might be the usual formula of a close, low-scoring game through five innings and then winning the battle of the bullpens.
The Guardians have a chance to step on the Twins’ throats this weekend. If they can win two of three and get out of Minnesota with a 2.5 game lead they will be in an excellent position. After Sunday’s game the Guardians have 18 home games remaining while the Twins have 9. A sweep in Minnesota would be devastating for the Twins. This series is far more important for the Twins than the Guardians, IMO, because the Twins can't afford to get 2.5 games behind with the huge disparity in home games.
The White Sox are refusing to go away. They took two of three in Seattle and beat Oakland 14-2 last night.
The injury-riddled Twins are 21-26 since the All-Star break but are hanging in there. Last night they pulled out a late win against the Yankees in New York to avoid a four-game sweep. They have lost six of eight. They appear to be running on fumes but a cornered rat is the most dangerous.
These teams are 3-3 this year in Minnesota. They have not played in over two months but will play eight games in the next 11 days. The next two weeks could be the Battle of Gettysburg for the A.L. Central. Cleveland leads the season series 6-5 but three of the wins have been decided by one run. The Twins have outscored the G’s by 61-45.
For the Twins Buxton, Polanco, Kepler, Jeffers, Sano, Lewis, and Larch are out. Those are just the position players. The pitching has also been ravaged; Ober, Rijo, Dobnack, Mahle, Maeda, Stashak, Coulumbe, and Paddack are on the IL. It’s incredible this team is still in it.
The Twins have hit Cleveland pitching very well this year with a line of .267/.830 and have averaged 5.5 runs per game - well above their season average of 4.4. Gio Urshela continues to punish his former team with a .326 average and 9 RBI’s in 11 games. Carlos Correa has hit .370 with four HR’s in eight games. OF Nick Gordon has hit .320 with two HR’s. They also have Luis Arraez, the league leader in batting average, but the G's have neutralized him pretty well so far.
The Twins’ bullpen had to pitch 13 innings in the last three days and the team had to fly in from New York after the game last night so the Guardians will be more rested, especially their bullpen. Having played four games in the last three days, including a 12-inning game, plus the travel, the Twins will be tired.
The other advantage is the Guardians will be starting their three best starters in Quantrill, McKenzie, and Bieber. The Twins are going with Bundy, Archer, and a fill-in or a bullpen day on Sunday. Quantrill and Bundy kick it off tonight.
Dylan Bundy is a 29-year-old right-hander with a record of 8-6, 4.34 ERA. For his career he is 54-63, 4.87. Bundy has really come on lately; in his last six starts his ERA is 2.17. In his last start he shut out the White Sox for five innings on two hits. However, in his last 12 starts his longest was 5.1 innings, so the Guardians should get at least four innings against the Twins’ bullpen tonight. The Twins bullpen has been average since the break but they did get extended a bit the last three nights.
Bundy gave up two runs in five innings in his start against the Guardians in June. He’s been outstanding at home with a 2.80 ERA against 5.28 on the road. We'll get him in Cleveland next weekend.
The third time through the order opponents are hitting .349 against him which explains why he never goes past five innings. With RISP batters are hitting .308 off him. Based on how well he’s been pitching recently and his excellent home ERA, not to mention the Guardians’ offensive struggles recently, I would guess runs will be hard to come by. I’ve been saying that a lot lately.
Steven Kwan is 3-for-3 against Bundy and Amed is 2-for-5 so maybe the top of the order can get things going tonight.
Cal Quantrill, 11-5, 3.55, goes for the G’s. Quantrill has been getting great run support this year and he’ll be facing a tired team with a lot of injuries, so I’m looking for a strong outing. Cal went 8 innings against the Twins in June, allowing 3 runs, including home runs to Kiriloff and Urshela. Kiriloff is out for the year.
McKenzie and Bieber close out the series. Chris Archer, who starts tomorrow, has never pitched beyond the 5th inning in 24 starts, so between Bundy tonight and Archer tomorrow the Twins bullpen should be looking at pitching at least eight more innings, and they could have a bullpen day Sunday (or bring up a minor leaguer).
One big key to this series is whether the Guardians can score late runs off the Twins overworked bullpen, which is third in the majors in innings pitched since the break and was really taxed the last three nights. It looks like they will have to throw a lot of innings this weekend as well. It might be the usual formula of a close, low-scoring game through five innings and then winning the battle of the bullpens.
The Guardians have a chance to step on the Twins’ throats this weekend. If they can win two of three and get out of Minnesota with a 2.5 game lead they will be in an excellent position. After Sunday’s game the Guardians have 18 home games remaining while the Twins have 9. A sweep in Minnesota would be devastating for the Twins. This series is far more important for the Twins than the Guardians, IMO, because the Twins can't afford to get 2.5 games behind with the huge disparity in home games.
The White Sox are refusing to go away. They took two of three in Seattle and beat Oakland 14-2 last night.
