The Twins head into Saturday’s matchup with the Guardians needing more than just a bounce-back. They need a clean, aggressive response after dropping the series opener, and the stakes are easy to read: Minnesota sits 5.5 games out of a wild-card spot, while Cleveland is one of the teams standing in the way.
Saturday’s game also brings a fresh wrinkle for the Twins offense. Before first pitch, Minnesota called up outfielder Emmanuel Rodriguez from Triple-A St.
Paul, and he’s in line to make his MLB debut. Rodriguez arrives with prospect buzz and numbers that jump off the page - a .289/.417/.511 slash line and a .928 OPS in Triple-A this season.
The Twins are hoping he can give the lineup a lift, and that means giving him regular at-bats, something the club wasn’t willing to do with either Gabby Gonzalez or Ben Ross. Ross was optioned to Triple-A to make room.
On the mound, the Twins are going with left-hander Connor Prielipp. He enters with a 4-7 record and a 5.25 ERA, and he was skipped in the rotation last time through before working out of the bullpen against the Tigers last Monday, where he allowed two runs and took the loss. Against Cleveland in his career, Prielipp has a 3.60 ERA across two starts and 10.0 innings.
The Guardians are starting right-hander Daniel Espino, who owns a 0-0 record and a 2.70 ERA this season. By innings pitched, Espino is functioning as the opener, and Joey Cantillo and Slade Cecconi are both expected to follow and handle length for Cleveland. That setup creates an opening the Twins need to press.
First pitch is set for 3:10 p.m. CT at Target Field, with the game on TwinsTV.
Cleveland’s lineup also gives Minnesota a specific test. Travis Bazzana has put together a strong rookie season, though he’s cooled in the second half, and he’s 1-for-3 with two strikeouts in his career against Prielipp.
The one hit was a two-run homer. If Prielipp is going to navigate this outing successfully, keeping Bazzana in check is part of the job.
The Twins, though, will be looking for damage on the other side too, especially against a Guardians pitching plan that should require multiple arms. Brooks Lee stands out as a key bat in that effort. He’s 4-for-5 in his career against Cecconi with a home run and four RBIs, and Minnesota will need that kind of production again if it’s going to make this game count.
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