The Cleveland Guardians open a three-game set against the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night at Target Field, with first pitch scheduled for 7:40 p.m. ET.
Cleveland comes in at 47-44, while Minnesota is 44-47. The game will air on Twins.TV and CleGuardians.TV, and fans can also listen on 830 WCCO.
On the mound, the Twins are sending right-hander Taj Bradley to the hill, while the Guardians will counter with left-hander Joey Cantillo. Bradley has made 16 starts and is 7-3 with a 3.86 ERA, a 1.286 WHIP and 10.4 strikeouts per nine innings. Cantillo has 18 starts, is also 7-3, and carries a 3.86 ERA with a 1.363 WHIP and 8.8 strikeouts per nine.
Minnesota brings more punch at the plate. The Twins’ 117 home runs rank seventh in MLB, and their 448 runs scored are sixth-most in the league at 4.9 per game. Their .247 batting average sits 12th.
Cleveland has had a tougher time generating offense. The Guardians have hit just 84 home runs, which ranks 26th, and their .230 team batting average is 28th. They’ve scored 362 runs this season, or four per game, which also ranks 26th.
Among the Twins’ top bats, Byron Buxton leads the group with a .271 average, .328 on-base percentage, .575 slugging percentage, 25 home runs and 45 RBI in 75 games. Brooks Lee has 14 homers and 48 RBI, Josh Bell has 13 homers and 60 RBI, Kody Clemens has 16 homers, and Luke Keaschall has 73 hits.
For Cleveland, Brayan Rocchio has posted a .276 average with a .347 OBP, six homers and 37 RBI in 88 games. Chase DeLauter has eight homers and 41 RBI, Travis Bazzana has seven homers and 27 RBI, Kyle Manzardo has 10 homers and 29 RBI, and Steven Kwan has 62 hits.
In Other News...
Twins Rotation Relief May Finally Be Taking Shape
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There was also a small roster shuffle as the club activated Woo-Suk Go and sent Cody Laweryson back to St. Paul. The bigger question now is how quickly the rest of the injured group can follow, because the Twins still have a few important names in various stages of recovery and the timing on each one could shape how they navigate the next few weeks. [Read more 🡒]
Byron Buxton Trade Buzz Is Back And Twins Fans Know Why
Byron Buxtons name keeps popping up in trade chatter anyway, which is hardly new for a player whose talent level tends to draw attention whenever the rumor mill starts spinning. The Twins have made their position clear, with general manager Jeremy Zoll saying the club is not exploring a Buxton trade and does not plan to, while Buxtons contract and service time give him meaningful control over where he goes next.
Still, the speculation has not gone away, even with Buxton publicly saying he does not intend to waive his no-trade clause. Some national lists have continued to include him among possible trade candidates, a reminder that star players with real leverage can still become part of the conversation even when the odds are long and the team insists there is nothing to see here. [Read more 🡒]
Twins Fans Just Got Another Brutal Kaelen Culpepper Delay
Kaelen Culpeppers summer has turned into stop-and-start frustration for the Twins, who have been trying to keep one of their best prospects on the field long enough to build momentum. The first-round pick has shown why the organization is so high on him at Triple-A St. Paul, but injuries have kept interrupting the progress since mid-June, leaving his season in fits and starts instead of the steady climb Minnesota hoped for.
Now Culpepper is back on the seven-day injured list, another unwelcome pause for a player the Twins would love to see finish the year healthy and pushing closer to the majors. It also fits a broader pattern in the system, where Walker Jenkins and Emmanuel Rodriguez have each lost time to injuries too, making every setback feel a little heavier for a club waiting on its top young talent to get rolling at the same time. [Read more 🡒]