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Three of Albers' last four starts have been, well, not a trainwreck, but they haven't been good. In that time frame he's accumulated just 17.1 innings and allowed 12 earned runs. The biggest issue is that when the hits come, they seem to come in bunches. He'll need to find a way to get that big out or two if he's going to avoid that pitfall against a Cleveland squad desperate to clinch one of those Wild Card spots.
The last time Cleveland saw Albers, the Twins rookie spun a gem by tossing a two-hit shutout. I'd really like Minnesota to manage the role of spoiler at least once, since they've failed to force Oakland or Detroit to wait, so I'll keep my fingers crossed that Albers can repeat that performance. They're only a game in front of Texas.
McAllister hasn't been the most efficient pitcher this season in terms of logging the innings that Cleveland would have liked, but that hasn't stopped him from being effective. He's coming off of a pair of one-run outings, which has turned the end of his season around after few rough starts upon returning from the disabled list in July.
Right-handed pitchers hit McAllister a better than lefties, so Dozier and Willingham will the the Minnesota hitters to watch. Plouffe is in the lineup as well but doesn't have strong platoon splits against right-handed pitchers.
The last time McAllister faced the Twins, they could only manage a pair of runs in seven and a third innings. If Minnesota wants to win this game, they'll have to do better than that.