*Photo from letsgotribe.com*
After trailing the Minnesota Twins by 11 1/2 games on June 3, the Cleveland Indians open up a crucial 4 game series with the Twins just two games back of first place. The Indians have gone 39-16 in their last 55 games, and are fresh off a doubleheader sweep of the Texas Rangers. They will start Mike Clevinger in the opening game at Target Field tonight against Minnesota's Kyle Gibson. In the 9 times the teams have played this year, the Twins have a 5-4 record against the Indians. They still play 10 more times, 7 of them coming in Minneapolis.
Indians manager Terry Francona, when asked about his team's position heading into this series, said that "I wish we were up, I think we've done a good job controlling what we can control. That's kind of the best way to go about it. ... It'll be a fun series to play." Francona said that the Twins will be a good challenge this weekend. However, the Twins aren't fazed, despite losing most of their lead.
Gibson said that "I don't think there's any need to panic, I think if you asked anybody Aug. 1, especially Twins fans, if they're two games up in the division, I think everybody is ecstatic." He went on to say "We're pretty confident with where we're at." Closer Taylor Rogers said that "It's exciting, It's all that you can ask for, play meaningful games and have two good teams going at each other. Obviously, we know each other pretty well, playing a lot over the years. It's going to be a nice dogfight."
Clevinger is 2-2 with a 2.91 ERA in 11 career appearances against the Twins, but is 0-1 in 4 games at Target Field. He faces a Twins lineup that that leads the league with 224 homers, one shy of the franchise record from 1963. The single season MLB record is 267, set by the New York Yankees last year. One of the hottest bats in the Twins lineup is DH Nelson Cruz, who has 32 homers, including 13 in his last 15 games. Cruz said that the Twins were well prepared for the upcoming series. Gibson said that "It can swing both ways pretty firm, but we're still pretty confident in how we're playing, and we know they're a good team, and we know we're a good team, and it should be four really good games."
Comments
Post a Comment