The Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Indians match up in a mid-week series that has big playoff implications
Even as the Minnesota Twins fight for a playoff spot through the Wild Card, they are not completely eliminated from the AL Central division race, in spite of what you may hear on various networks.
Entering this week’s series, the Twins and Indians are separated by 5 games in the standings. The Indians are currently the 3rd-rated team in American League division winners in record. The Twins are one-half game back of the second Wild Card spot.
In August, the Indians have gone 7-5 after going 15-11 in July. The Twins have gone 9-4 in August after going 10-15 in July. The Indians lead the season series 8-5, outscoring the Twins 59-36 on the season.
While a 3-game sweep wouldn’t put the Twins in first place, it would bring the Twins to within 2 games of the Indians. More importantly, it’d even the season series, with the final series of the season in the last week of the year (September 26-28) in Cleveland deciding the season series and possibly being incredibly important for the division.
Let’s take a look at how the teams match up in each game:
Next: Game 1