***who's ready for some baseball? twins-tribe series thread***

[weimy froob]

the all-star break's over and we start off with the newest "biggest series of the year" right away. who's psyched?

[jffl_commish]

This is a biggie. Need 2/3 at least. Anything less and this race gets wide open in a hurry.

[RubeTube]

This series is going to define the season.

Twins need this one. If they get swept... Season unravels imo.

[weimy froob]

when: 6:10 p.m.

STARTING PITCHERS: Mike Clevinger (2-2, 4.44) vs. Kyle Gibson (8-4, 4.09)

12 Francisco Lindor SS

35 Oscar Mercado CF

41 Carlos Santana 1B

22 Jason Kipnis 2B

11 Jose Ramirez 3B

40 Bobby Bradley DH

10 Jake Bauers LF

55 Roberto Perez C

30 Tyler Naquin RF

[weimy froob]

Minnesota Twins at Cleveland Indians series preview

The Minnesota Twins have a crucial three-game showdown with the Cleveland Indians in their first series after the All-Star break beginning Friday night.
Throughout the first half of the season, the Minnesota Twins have felt comfortable on top of the American League Central division. Almost leading from wire-to-wire, the Twins have seen their lead atop the division balloon up to 11 1/2 games and the Indians never seemed like a threat to the point where there were rumors of Cleveland waving the white flag at the trade deadline.

Just as the Twins seemed to have a chokehold on the division, the Indians began to heat up. Cleveland has put together a record of 22-8 in their past 30 games and has gone from being 29-30 to 50-38 at the All-Star break. At the same time, the Twins haven’t played poorly, but they have cooled off with a record of 16-14 during that stretch.

Those two stretches intertwined to shrink the Twins lead in the AL Central down to 5 1/2 games coming out of the All-Star break, which sets up a massive series at Progressive Field. With 13 games remaining between the two teams, this won’t completely decide the division, but give one team a little extra momentum opening the second half.

If the Twins can take two of three games from Cleveland, they can open up their cushion and turn their attention to an upcoming tour of the division which begins around the beginning of August through the end of the season. If the Indians take the series or even earn a sweep, they’ll be more in the division race than ever.

In other words, the time is now for the Twins to put their stamp on the American League Central.

About the Twins
There were few teams that needed the All-Star break as much as the Twins did as they had several players resting on the injured list. With Eddie Rosario, Jake Odorizzi and C.J. Cron winding up on the shelf just before the break, Minnesota was in survival mode during a series against the Texas Rangers, but wound up taking two out of three games to enter the break with some sort of momentum.

With four days off to heal, the Twins should be ready to go at least in the form of Rosario and Odorizzi’s injuries. Rosario took the time through the All-Star break to heal his sprained ankle while Odorizzi should be recovered from a blister on his pitching hand. Getting both players should be a huge boost in the lineup and on the mound as they head into this important series.

While the Twins will be getting a pair of regulars back, they still will be without the services of Cron, who went on the shelf after last Friday’s game against the Rangers. In his absence, the Twins have used Miguel Sano at first base and he’s responded with a strong stretch hitting .400 with four home runs and nine RBI in his past nine games. The whiff rate (eight strikeouts in 30 at-bats) is still strong, but Sano can make more contact, they can bide their time until Cron’s return.

Other than that, the Twins should be well-rested for a crucial series, but will also need all hands on deck to keep the Indians at bay.

About the Indians
As mentioned in the opening slide, the Indians are going to be playing this series with a sense of urgency. Some may have written Cleveland off when the Twins hung their big lead on them in the opening months of the season, but the Indians have clawed back thanks to a schedule that has lightened up and an offense that has seemingly come back from the dead.

The good news for the Twins is that these performances have come from teams that are toward the bottom of the American League. While beating up on Kansas City, Texas and Detroit recently, the Indians still showed they have some flaws as they also dropped a pair of 13-0 games to the Baltimore Orioles. Maybe those were just a bad pair of nights, but the Twins destroyed the Orioles in two three-game series in April by a combined score of 41-19.

Even with the two blemishes, the Indians are playing really good baseball despite suffering a slew of injuries on the mound. Corey Kluber remains out with a broken forearm and doesn’t seem close to returning. Mike Clevenger has also been in and out of the lineup while Carlos Carrasco recently revealed that he is battling leukemia and is out indefinitely.

The Indians have had some pitchers step up including All-Star Shane Bieber, but they’ll need some help from their offense, who has ranked 21st in MLB with 396 runs scored. A way to boost that number will be Twins killer Francisco Lindor, who has hit .455 with three home runs and four RBI against the Twins this season.

Pitching Probables
Friday: Kyle Gibson (8-4, 4.09 ERA) vs. Mike Clevinger (2-2, 4.44 ERA)

Kyle Gibson started the last game before the All-Star break, but only went one inning in an effort to return to normalcy. After his opener cameo, Gibson will be looking to get back on track after a solid first half of the season.

Meanwhile, the Indians will send Mike Clevinger to the mound, who has seen success against the Twins with a 2-2 record and a 3.05 ERA. The Indians righty has spent some time on the injured list with a pair of injuries, but could be an impact player in the second half.

Saturday: Jake Odorizzi (10-4, 3.15 ERA) vs. Trevor Bauer (8-6, 3.61 ERA)

After Friday night’s opener, both teams won’t be messing around as they’ll send their top of the rotation guys to get an advantage. Jake Odorizzi will come off the injured list for this start and missing the All-Star game may be a blessing for the Twins heading into this series. In his previous start against the Indians on March 30, the right-hander was brilliant allowing one run on one hit while striking out 11 in a 2-1 defeat.

Trevor Bauer will counter for Cleveland and he’s been enjoying a bit of a hot streak on the mound as of late. In his last six starts, he’s gone 4-0 with a 2.90 ERA, but that could run out against a Twins team he’s had issues with. In two starts against Minnesota this season, Bauer has gone 0-1 with a 3.60 ERA, but a WHIP of 0.66.

Sunday: Jose Berrios (8-5, 3.00 ERA) vs. Bieber (8-3, 3.45 ERA)

In the finale, the Twins will send their All-Star hurler to the mound as Jose Berrios looks to build off a solid performance in the Midsummer Classic. Berrios has dominated the tribe this year, going 2-0 with a 0.66 ERA and 16 strikeouts in 13 2/3 innings.

[Bon Scott]

Really? Just off the All-Star break and they’re going with Kyle Gibson? There goes game 1.

[BBG]

Really? Just off the All-Star break and they’re going with Kyle Gibson? There goes game 1.

Odorizzi tomorrow tho..... Maybe we can start 1-1

[whiskerbiscuit]

Can't remember being this jacked for s Twins series.

[Ron Burgundy 4 President]

Feels like thee type of game where Gibson actually pitches pretty well and the offense submarines yet another game they really should have won. Seems like I've seen that game about a dozen times the last month or so. Let's see what happens......

[feekdogg]

Yes! 4-0 Twins.

Great start!

[weimy froob]

[D_H]

3 game seeep coming by Cleveland , this will be men against boys.

[weimy froob]

that ball's gone!

[whiskerbiscuit]

Cruz missile!

[boxter432]

Boy am I sick of Miguel’s shitty throws or misplayed balls where he has to move.

[weimy froob]

gibson pitches around the E-5.

[weimy froob]

[weimy froob]

gibson pitches out of the trouble again. time to add to the lead.

[BBG]

Clevinger has some really cute braids and barrettes in his hair. My little girl is totes jeal

[boxter432]

You should never ever ever get picked off. Lazy bad baseball.
I also keep thinking we are batting when cle is up in their red jerseys.

They need to just not swing at clevengers breaking balls. They are all way outside the zone. Sit on the heater or take walks.

[boxter432]

What in the fuck was that pitch.

Kyle dominating on low movement. Throws a soft breaking ball numbers high with 2 strikes to the only Hr hitter on the team. Frustrating.

[weimy froob]

What in the fuck was that pitch.

Kyle dominating on low movement. Throws a soft breaking ball numbers high with 2 strikes to the only Hr hitter on the team. Frustrating.

changeup that was up.

[weimy froob]

and now he walks kipnis.

[boxter432]

Here comes fun Gibson.
Kipnis sucks now. Make him swing.

[D_H]

3 game seeep coming by Cleveland , this will be men against boys.

Here's the start

[RubeTube]

Turd Gibson doing what he does best... Laying logs.

[whiskerbiscuit]

Fuck

[boxter432]

Well that’s great. Almost escaped. Instead poop town. Going to need A LOT of offense this series.

[D_H]

I say we end up losing this division by eight or nine games possibly 10.

that's a good thing , these cheapskate f****** owners don't deserve a division title

[RubeTube]

The mound looks like a cat box when Gibby gets off the hump... Littered with logs.