Twins To Tackle Tribe
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The Minnesota Twins will do battle with the Cleveland Indians in a three game series at Jacobs Field in Cleveland, Ohio. The Twins desperately need a series win, if not a sweep of the Cleveland Indians this week in order to close the gap between them, and hopefully surpass the Indians by this season's end.
Minnesota has been doing much better against the Tribe since the all star break. The Indians hold an 8-4 series lead over the Minnesota Twins this season with Cleveland winning the first five games of the season against the Twins. But, since the all star break, the Twins have won 4 of the last 6 games against Cleveland, including a 2-1 series win in late July, at Jacobs Field, where the Twins have struggled to win.
The Twins are gearing up for possibly another late season surge at the AL Central Division Title, and hope to keep rolling against the Cleveland Indians this week. Minnesota's series win in Cleveland July 27 through July 29, where they had to win the last two games of the series, proved to the Twins they can win on the road against a very tough division rival. The Twins got two very much needed wins then, and gained some confidence in winning at Jacobs Field. Here are the pitching match ups for this weeks games against the Indians:
Carlos Silva vs. Paul Byrd II:
Twins: Silva finally got some run support in his win against the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday afternoon. He came into the game averaging just four runs or support, the second lowest in the American League, but got eight runs from the Twins' bats against Seattle. He pitched seven innings and allowed two earned runs on eight hits. Both runs came in the seventh inning. Silva is 0-2 in three starts against Cleveland this season with a 5.00 ERA.
Indians: Byrd had a bit of an up-and-down outing against the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday. He was roughed up for three runs in the first -- all with two outs. He then set down 10 in a row between the second and fifth innings before giving up three more in the sixth. All the runs came on homers served up to Carlos Guillen, Magglio Ordonez, and Marcus Thames. Byrd worked a total of 5 1/3 innings, allowing the six runs on seven hits with two walks and four strikeouts. He is 3-0 with a 3.13 ERA in three starts against the Twins this season.
Boof Bonser vs. Jake Westbrook:
Twins: Bonser saw his 12-start winless streak come to an end on Thursday. The right-hander allowed just one run on three hits over seven innings in his last start against the Baltimore Orioles. The Twins are looking for Bonser to deliver longer outings like in this last start, and the hope is that by changing up his workout and diet plan, he will be able to do just that. Bonser is 0-1 with a 7.56 ERA in two career starts against the Tribe.
Indians: Westbrook's resurgent month of August continued with his strongest start of the season Thursday in Detroit. He worked eight scoreless innings against the Tigers, allowing just five hits with two walks, three strikeouts and two hit batters. His sinker was on cue, as he forced 14 ground outs. The problem was he received no offensive support in that span, so he came out with a no-decision. Westbrook gave up two runs on four hits over seven innings for a no-decision in his lone start against the Twins this season.
The Battle of the Aces II:
Johan Santana vs. C.C. Sabathia:
Twins: Santana pitched seven innings and gave up four runs in his last start against the Orioles. Santana?s problems with the home run continued, as he gave up three on the night to set a new career high for homers in a season at 27. Santana's next start will come at Cleveland. He is 4-3 with a 3.77 ERA in 15 career appearances at Jacobs Field. '
Indians: Sabathia tossed a complete game in a losing effort Friday night against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. He allowed just two runs and tied a season high with 119 pitches, but suffered from a lack of run support again. Sabathia is 2-4 with a 2.97 ERA in nine second-half starts. He has thrown eight quality starts and averaged over seven innings per outing. Sabathia is 5-3 with a 3.86 ERA on the road this season, and 2-1 with a 1.66 ERA versus the Twins in 2007.
WIN TWINS!!!!!!
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