Series Preview: Cleveland Indians to host Twins with first place on the line

The Cleveland Indians will welcome the Minnesota Twins to Progressive Field for a three-game set starting Monday with a chance to take over first place in the AL Central.

The Cleveland Indians enter the three-game series against the Twins with a record of 17 -11 and find themselves in second place in the AL Central just a game and a half behind Minnesota.

With a 60 game season, divisional games are even more critical, because the separation between division teams will be minimal all year. The Twins lead the Central, with seven games separating them from the last-place Royals.

This season the Indians are 1-3 against the Twins. In their earlier season matchup in Minnesota, the Indians pitching staff got the job done holding Minnesota to 10 runs over the four games, but the offense was ice cold, only scoring four runs over the entire series.

Since that first season showdown that left the Twins with a record of 7-2, they have leveled off. Minnesota is just 10-7 since the series with Cleveland putting them at 17-9 on the year.

In addition to cooling off, the injury bug has struck the team of late. They’ll head to Cleveland without outfielder Byron Buxton, catcher Mitch Garver, starting pitcherJake Odorizzi, and relief pitcher Zack Littell.

Meanwhile, the Indians will likely remain without Manager Terry Francona, who missed the entire weekend series against Detroit after undergoing am medical procedure. Starting pitchers Zach Plesac and Mike Clevinger also remain away from the club at the team’s alternate site as punishment for breaking curfew while in Chicago despite COVID-19 protocols.

Here’s a closer look at the Indians’ crucial upcoming series with the Twins.