Game 21: Twins vs. Cleveland

First Pitch: 5:10 pm CDT

TV: Bally Sports North

Radio: WCCO 830, Audacy, The Wolf 102.9 FM, TIBN, twinsbeisbol.com

Know Thine Enemy: Covering the Corner

The Twins, frankly, have been bad lately. Maybe a trip to Cleveland is just what the doctor ordered.

Both teams have struggled lately, as Cleveland has dropped 7 of 10, and the Twins have lost 8 of 10. As many on Twitter have been quick to point out, there’s a whopping 142 games left, but neither team can afford to waste much more time if they want to turn things around. This marks the beginning of divisional play really intensifying, so if the Twins want to have a shot at the Central title as was expected, they need to start playing better quickly.

The good news: Jose Berrios is on the bump today. La Makina has been pitching better than ever to start this season, currently sporting a 3.00 ERA and having allowed more than 2 earned runs only once in four starts. On the other side, Zach Plesac has allowed 6 earned runs in each of his last two starts, bringing his ERA to a lofty 6.75. Furthermore, Andrelton Simmons will be back, so hopefully that will be the end of the vomit-inducing infield play that has plagued the Twins lately.

There are also some signs of the Twins being unlucky, such as their poor record in extra innings and this:

The bad news: Byron Buxton is not in the lineup today. Patella tendinitis appears to be the culprit, which is evidently a knee soreness he’s been playing through that was a little worse than usual this morning. Aaron Gleeman reports that he could be available off the bench today, so hopefully the Twins will get their MVP back on the field in no time. The Twins will also be facing former fan favorite Eddie Rosario for the first time today. Rosario has been bad this season, with a .216 average and .614 OPS, but unfortunately the Twins have still missed him in left field, due to the struggles of Jake Cave, Brent Rooker, and Alex Kirilloff and the absence of Max Kepler.

We also ask that you pour one out for poor Nick Gordon, who finally got his first big league call-up just to make 0 appearances in 3 games:

Lineups!

Go Twins Go!