Minnesota Twins vs. Cleveland Indians Pick & Prediction SEPTEMBER 18th 2024
Preview and Prediction
As the Cleveland Guardians edge closer to securing a spot in the postseason, the Minnesota Twins are fighting to maintain their position in the playoffs.
In an effort to bounce back from a much-needed win and even the current four-game series, the Twins will face off against the Guardians' Tanner Bibee on Wednesday night.
Despite holding a late 3-1 lead in the series opener on Monday, Minnesota ultimately fell short in a 4-3 loss. However, they were able to secure a 4-1 victory on Tuesday thanks to RBI singles from Matt Wallner and a two-run homer from Willi Castro in the eighth inning.
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"Always trust yourself and enjoy the game," Castro told Bally Sports North.
Despite their struggles this season, the Twins still hold a 1 1/2-game lead over the Detroit Tigers for the final American League wild-card spot.
On the other hand, Cleveland (87-65) could potentially secure a spot in the playoffs by the end of the series on Thursday.
In his three starts against the Twins this year, Bibee (11-8, 3.60 ERA) has led the Guardians to victory each time. He boasts a 1.50 ERA and 22 strikeouts in 18 innings pitched. However, the Twins have managed to score three runs off of solo homers from Edouard Julien, Jose Miranda, and Byron Buxton.
Despite his success against the Twins, Bibee has struggled in his past five starts with a 4.88 ERA and six home runs allowed. In his most recent outing against the Tampa Bay Rays, he gave up three runs and nine hits in six innings.
Twins' Bailey Ober (12-7, 3.90 ERA) will take the mound against the Guardians. In his last start against the Cincinnati Reds, Ober allowed a run in the first six innings but ran into trouble in the seventh, ultimately giving up four more runs.
In his career, Ober has a 2-2 record and a 2.13 ERA in seven starts against Cleveland. However, he allowed five runs and eight hits in four innings in the Twins' 11-4 loss to the Guardians on May 18.
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Cleveland's Jose Ramirez, who is currently on a 10-game hitting streak, has a .313 average against Ober with two doubles and a homer.
Guardians' center fielder Lane Thomas has been on a hot streak this month, hitting .317 with five home runs and 16 RBIs in 16 games. He also hit his second homer in four games on Tuesday.
Minnesota Twins vs. Cleveland Indians Recap MAY 19TH 2024
Will Brennan clubbed a three-run walk-off homer in the ninth, and the Cleveland Guardians swept a three-game series against the visiting Minnesota Twins with a 5-2 victory on Sunday.
After Cleveland's Emmanuel Clase (3-1) failed to hold a 2-1 lead in the top of the ninth, Brennan picked him up when his drive bounced off the top of the right-field wall and into the seats with two on and two outs against Jhoan Duran (0-2). It was the sixth win in seven games for the American League Central-leading Guardians.
Trailing 2-1 in the ninth, Minnesota was down to its last out when Clase hit Ryan Jeffers with a pitch. Byron Buxton ran for Jeffers and safely reached second on Willi Castro's grounder after Cleveland shortstop Brayan Rocchio didn't get to second in time for the force.
However, it appeared the Guardians would still get out of the inning with the win, but Clase dropped a flip from Josh Naylor on Alex Kirilloff's grounder while covering first base. With Buxton in between third and home plate, Naylor mistakenly threw behind the runner, allowing the tying run to score.
Andres Gimenez's two-run, first-inning homer off Minnesota's Chris Paddack seemed to be all Cleveland needed to win. While Guardians starter Tanner Bibee allowed Jose Miranda's third-inning solo homer, three other hits and a walk while striking out eight in seven innings, Paddack proved even tougher.
After allowing two hits in the first inning, Paddack gave up just one more hit with no walks and six strikeouts to last eight innings. Paddack retired 24 of the final 25 Guardians he faced but got little run support from the Twins, who have been outscored 33-9 during their season-high six-game losing streak.
Cleveland's Tyler Freeman led off the bottom of the first with an infield single, then Gimenez followed with his no-doubt drive just to the right of center field for his third homer of the year.
Minnesota got within a run in the third when Miranda cleared the 19-foot-high wall in the left, his third home run of the season as well.
Cleveland is 5-0 versus Minnesota this season.