Minnesota Twins series preview: Twins look to buck Target Field woes against Nationals
By Chris Schad

About the Twins
The good news for the Twins is that they still hold a four-game lead in the American League Central even after dropping two of three games to the Indians last weekend. The bad news is that nearly everything else went against the Twins last weekend.
Michael Pineda was popped with a 60-game suspension for violating MLB’s performance-enhancing drugs policy on Saturday before Max Kepler left Sunday’s game with shoulder inflammation. The Twins also acquired Ryan LaMarre to help soften the blow, but are still waiting on the services of Jake Cave and Nelson Cruz in the lineup.
The Twins’ pitching staff has also not been immune to the injury bug as Sam Dyson is still out after feeling discomfort in his biceps last week and Kyle Gibson remains on the injured list with ulcerative colitis but is scheduled to return in a start for Thursday night’s finale.
As much as the Twins need to build momentum for this weekend’s series in Cleveland it might be more important to get a clean bill of health. If the Twins can use some of their players that are deeper on the bench, they might be able to rest up some of the key cogs to help try to put the AL Central away this weekend, but also need to pick up a victory or two to help keep their lead where it currently sits.