Cleveland Indians vs Minnesota Twins Series Preview

The Minnesota Twins welcome the Cleveland Indians into town.  Our predictions came to fruition as the Royals took three out of four games with the Twins and, in turn, the series.  Minnesota will be looking to get back into the win column after dropping two consecutive contests to the Royals.

For the Indians, this series could be one of their last in order to stay relevant.  Currently Cleveland sits a game above .500 and 6.5 games back of the AL Central leading Royals.  In order to make any sort of playoff push come September, these are the series the Indians need to take.

More from Minnesota Twins News

• Minnesota Twins: Grading the Twins’ Joey Gallo signing
• Minnesota Twins: Grading the Christian Vazquez Signing
• Minnesota Twins: Twins jump into Top 5 in first MLB Draft Lottery
• Minnesota Twins: Byron Buxton wins 2022 Bob Feller Act of Valor Award
• Minnesota Twins: A Twins Homage to the Turkey of the Year Award

In game one the Twins will send Kyle Gibson to the mound.  Gibson has been incredibly jekyll and hyde this year.  He has been great in his wins and terrible in his losses.  He has an opportunity for his third win in his last four starts however.  The Indians will give the ball to Trevor Bauer, a former top prospect.  Bauer has solid stuff, but struggles with command at times and it tends to do him in.

Game two will pit Ricky Nolasco of the Twins against T.J. House for the Indians.  Nolasco will be making his second start for the Twins since coming off the DL and will look for a better outing than he had last week against the Royals.  House is 0-1 with a 3.38 ERA across his last three contests and is returning to the rotation after a brief bullpen stint.

In the final game, the Twins will have Phil Hughes face off with Corey Kluber of the Indians.  Both aces of their respective staff’s, Hughes has been great his last three times out.  He is 3-0 with a 1.33 ERA over that time frame.  As good as Hughes has been, Kluber has been better, going 2-0 with a 0.86 ERA and 27 strikeouts.

Look for Minnesota to get to Trevor Bauer early in-game one.  With the bats having come around, it could spell disaster for the young pitcher.  The Twins however will have their hands full in the final two games of the series, but Hughes should have a solid shot at home.  Look for the Twins to take the series 2-1.

First pitch tonight is at 7:10pm central time from Target Field.