After slipping in a 3-1 win in the opener, the Cleveland Indians followed it up with a dominant 11-4 victory in the second meeting. They’ll try to make it three in a row in this series, this time with Trevor Bauer (0-2, 8.44 ERA) up the hill.
Bauer was a dud in his last start, giving up six runs on eight hits, including a pair of home runs, in an eventual loss to Detroit. He carries a 1-5 record with a 5.32 ERA and a total of 60 K’s in 11 career starts versus Minnesota.
With Bauer still looking for his form, it’s probably up to the bats of Jose Ramirez and Edwin Encarnacion to carry Cleveland again. The two went 3-for-8 combined with five RBIs and one dinger each in the previous game.
Tuesday night’s lopsided loss to Cleveland marked the third-straight loss for the Minnesota Twins, who have only managed to score six runs in their losing stretch.
It was nice to see the offense improve in the second game against the Indians, as Minny mustered four runs, including a Miguel Sano home run in the bottom of the eighth inning. Jason Castro was the most efficient at the plate, going 3-for-4. The Twins still need a lot more of that, obviously.
Meanwhile, getting the nod is Adalberto Mejia (0-1, 4.05 ERA). He’s coming off a solid bounce-back performance in his second career start against the White Sox last week, throwing for five innings of one-run ball. Minnesota lost that game, however.
Writer’s Prediction
Minnesota (+125) finally wins one in this series, 5-4.
