Minnesota Twins (15-28, fifth in the AL Central) vs. Cleveland Indians (23-18, second in the AL Central)
Cleveland; Friday, 7:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Twins: TBD Indians: Triston McKenzie (1-2, 5.79 ERA, 1.64 WHIP, 40 strikeouts)
LINE: Indians -121, Twins +110; over/under is 9 runs
BOTTOM LINE: Cleveland heads into the matchup fresh off a strong showing by Aaron Civale. Civale threw seven innings, surrendering two runs on four hits with eight strikeouts against Los Angeles.
The Indians are 15-8 against opponents from the AL Central. Cleveland has a team on-base percentage of .283, led by Jose Ramirez with a mark of .351.
The Twins are 7-10 against the rest of their division. Minnesota has hit 59 combined home runs this season, most in the American League. Nelson Cruz leads the team with 10 homers.
The Twins won the last meeting 10-2. J.A. Happ secured his second victory and Mitch Garver went 2-for-5 with two home runs and three RBIs for Minnesota. Logan Allen registered his fourth loss for Cleveland.
TOP PERFORMERS: Ramirez leads the Indians with 22 extra base hits and is batting .272.
Cruz leads the Twins with 14 extra base hits and 24 RBIs.
LAST 10 GAMES: Indians: 6-4, .233 batting average, 3.93 ERA, outscored opponents by one run
Twins: 3-7, .232 batting average, 6.18 ERA, outscored by 27 runs
INJURIES: Indians: Cam Hill: (wrist), Jordan Luplow: (ankle), Roberto Perez: (finger).
Twins: Devin Smeltzer: (elbow), Michael Pineda: (abscess), Edwar Colina: (right elbow), Shaun Anderson: (quad), Jake Cave: (back), Byron Buxton: (hip), Jorge Polanco: (ankle), Alex Kirilloff: (right wrist).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
