Guardians bring 1-0 series advantage over Twins into game 2
Minnesota Twins (72-71, third in the AL Central) vs. Cleveland Guardians (77-66, first in the AL Central)
Cleveland; Saturday, 1:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Twins: Louie Varland (0-0); Guardians: Shane Bieber (10-8, 2.91 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 178 strikeouts)
BOTTOM LINE: The Cleveland Guardians play the Minnesota Twins with a 1-0 series lead.
Cleveland has a 37-31 record in home games and a 77-66 record overall. Guardians hitters are batting a collective .251, which ranks fourth in the AL.
Minnesota has a 29-39 record in road games and a 72-71 record overall. The Twins have gone 60-28 in games when they record at least eight hits.
The teams meet Saturday for the 16th time this season. The Guardians lead the season series 10-5.
TOP PERFORMERS: Jose Ramirez leads Cleveland with 27 home runs while slugging .528. Oscar Gonzalez is 16-for-39 with four home runs and nine RBI over the past 10 games.
Luis Arraez has 29 doubles, a triple and eight home runs while hitting .319 for the Twins. Carlos Correa is 17-for-42 with three doubles and five home runs over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Guardians: 8-2, .277 batting average, 3.13 ERA, outscored opponents by eight runs
Twins: 4-6, .266 batting average, 3.70 ERA, outscored by five runs
INJURIES: Guardians: Zach Plesac: 15-Day IL (hand), Aaron Civale: 15-Day IL (forearm), Anthony Gose: 60-Day IL (tricep)
Twins: Nick Gordon: day-to-day (toe), Kyle Garlick: 10-Day IL (wrist), Max Kepler: day-to-day (leg), Chris Archer: 15-Day IL (pectoral), Tyler Mahle: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Ryan Jeffers: 60-Day IL (thumb), Jorge Polanco: 10-Day IL (knee), Trevor Larnach: 60-Day IL (core), Byron Buxton: 10-Day IL (hip), Alex Kirilloff: 60-Day IL (wrist), Miguel Sano: 60-Day IL (knee), Danny Coulombe: 60-Day IL (hip), Cody Stashak: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Royce Lewis: 60-Day IL (knee), Chris Paddack: 60-Day IL (elbow), Jhon Romero: 60-Day IL (biceps), Jorge Alcala: 60-Day IL (elbow), Kenta Maeda: 60-Day IL (elbow)
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.