With a Magic number of 5 over the Guardians and 4 over the Tigers, Twins somewhat playing out the string of the season over these last dozen games or so. Bullpen match ups being tested, multi-positional players getting time at first base, etc. The Reds however are in a dogfight with four teams within a half a game of two remaining Wild Card spots so every game counts for them.
Kenta Maeda up for the Twins and had a very nice start last week. Would be nice to see that through the end of the season and maybe he gets the 3rd start over Joe Ryan if it gets that far in the Wildcard series. Fernando Cruz up for the Reds. He's typically a reliever so not sure if Reds are doing a bullpen game.
Game time at 5:40. Cleveland plays at 6:40 and Tigers after 9:00.
Ezra Sutton (1850)
Willie Sudhoff (1874)
Frank Schulte (1882)
Sheriff Blake (1899)
Hughie Critz (1900)
Sam Streeter (1900)
Paul Hardy (1910)
Chase Riddle (1925) Orlando Cepeda (1937)
Bobby Wine (1938)
Thad Bosley (1956)
John Franco (1960)
Dan Haren (1980) Casey Crosby (1988) Marcus Semien (1990) Zack Granite (1992) Jose Ramirez (1992) James Marvel (1993) Jordan Balazovic (1998)
Chase Riddle played in the minors from 1943-1962, managed in the minors from 1951-1962, was a scout from 1963-1978, and was the baseball coach at Troy State University from 1979-1990.
James Marvel was drafted by Minnesota in the thirty-seventh round in 2012, but did not sign.
Twins slow march to the Central Division title continues with a second game against the really good Tampa Bay Rays. Twins once again at 6 games over .500 after reaching a season high 8 games over on Saturday. Joe Ryan on the mound for the Twins. Former Twin Zach Little pitching for the Rays. My sources list Zach Little as a reliever so not sure if this is a bullpen game for the Rays. However, he did pitch 8 pretty solid innings last week so perhaps Little is being stretched out to be a starter.
Twins Magic Number now 11 for both Guardians and Tigers.
After yesterday's shellacking of the Guardians, the Twins are once again at the dreaded 6 games over .500 level. We've seen losing streaks of 4, 2, and 1 games after reaching these lofty heights -- as if the Twins are afraid of flying too close to the sun. Will they have more runs in them after scoring 3 touchdowns yesterday? Will the Guardians feel like they need to respond?
Sonny Gray on the mound for the Twins and I feel like he's in bulldog mode. Someone named Tanner Bibee for the Guardians. Never heard of the guy but apparently he's one of Cleveland's best pitchers. His strikeout per inning rate is a concern for the free swinging Twins so I don't think we will see double digit runs scored tonight.
It feels like if the Twins can win one more game against Cleveland, that will be the dagger for the season. Let's just get it done tonight and not have to worry about the Guardians thinking they have any chance of catching the Twins.
Twins back up to six games over .500. Seems like every time they have met that milestone this season the Twins go into a minor tailspin. Fortunately it appears that the Guardians are at the "put an X on each day of the calendar stage" of the season and are just looking forward to the time when they don't have to spend their days in Cleveland.
Pablo Lopez on the mound for the Twins and he has been the ace of the staff over the latter half of the summer and probably gets the game one start in the playoffs. Someone called Gavin Williams for the Guardians and he's coming off a 7 runs in 4.1 innings outing last week. Here's hoping he loads the bases for Royce Lewis.
Game time at 6:40 for a very nice night to be at the ballpark. Magic number is 24 (22 for Detroit) so we could be celebrating a Central Division champions belt in the next couple of weeks.
After the improbable win against the Rangers yesterday, the Cleveland Guardians of the Galaxy come to town for a three game series to close out the month. The Twins currently have a 6.0 game lead in the division, so hopefully they use this opportunity to pull away. Curry is on the mound for the Guards (I think I know, but I'll let you try to pronounce his first game). He's only made a few starts this year, but has been decent enough. Most likely should be plenty to put away this lineup.
We hit the road after this (to play the Rangers... and the Guardians?) so let's get some wins!
