The Minnesota Twins will host the Cleveland Indians in the final game of their three-game series, and for the last time this season on Sunday. Heading into Saturday, the Twins have won five of the eight head-to-head contests this season. On Friday, the Twins handed Cleveland's ace and the potential 2020 Cy Young winner, Shane Bieber, his first loss of the season with a 3-1 victory.
The Twins currently trail the White Sox by one game in the AL Central, while the Indians are 1.5 games behind Minnesota and 2.5 games behind Chicago.
The Twins have been great in their home ballpark, where they have an 18-5 record. Cleveland has been impressive away from Progressive Field, with a 14-8 mark on the road this season. This prediction was made before the two teams completed their game on Saturday.
Pitching carrying the Indians
The Cleveland Indians lost their fourth straight game on Friday, falling to the Twins 3-1. The Tribe is now 26-18 on the season, which puts them in third place in the tight AL Central. The Indians have been lead by their pitching this season, but have struggled offensively.
The Indians will start the 6’5 165 lb, 23-year-old rookie Triston McKenzie. McKenize has made four starts this season, has a 2-0 record, 2.57 ERA, 0.76 WHIP, and a 26:5 strikeout to walk ratio. The Cleveland pitching staff is loaded with other talented arms along with McKenize, which is why the team has the second-lowest ERA in baseball at 3.04 and is holding their opponents overall to 3.2 runs per game, which is the best in baseball.
The Indians are batting an unimpressive .225 this season and averaging 4.0 runs per game, which are both 27th in baseball. Heading into Saturday, the Indians have only scored a combined total of two runs in their previous three games. Jose Ramirez leads the team with 10 home runs and 25 RBI on the season, followed by Franmil Reyes with eight home runs and 25 RBI and a team-leading .304 AVG.
Twins look to contiune home dominance
The Twins 28-18 record has them trailing the Chicago White Sox by one game in the AL Central, and currently among the cluster of teams fighting for the best record in the American League. The Rays, White Sox, Twins, and Athletics are all within just 1.5 games of each other overall at the top of American League standings. The Twins won for the eighth time with-in their last 10 games on Friday.
Michael Pineda will start for the Twins on Sunday. He is 1-0 with a 2.77 ERA, and 0.92 WHIP in two starts this season. As a team, Minnesota is 5th in baseball with a 3.65 ERA.
Offensively the Twins are averaging 4.5 runs per game, which is 18th in MLB, batting .246, which is 14th, and have hit 65 home runs as a team, which is 9th.
Nelson Cruz is putting up MVP numbers at the age of 40, batting .333 with 15 home runs and 31 RBI on the season. Eddie Rosario leads the team with 30 RBI and as hit nine homers, and third baseman Miguel Sano is second on the team with 10 home runs.
Notable Trends
- Minnesota is 4-0 in their last 4 games against a team with a winning record
- Minnesota is 7-1 in Pineda's last 8 starts against a team from the AL Central
- Cleveland is 0-4 in their last 4 games against a starter with a WHIP less than 1.15
