The Minnesota Twins and Guardians will look to play a better brand of baseball when they open their four-game series on Monday in Cleveland.
The Twins were taken to task during the rubber match of their three-game series against the Chicago Cubs on Sunday, dropping a 10-1 decision.
“This game got out of hand early and stayed out of hand, and we weren’t able to do anything,” Minnesota manager Derek Shelton said. “So we just flush it and move on to the next series.”
Luke Keaschall, who was playing his eighth major-league game in center field, misplayed a ball, resulting in three runs crossing the plate. That turned a three-run deficit into a six-run hole.
“I wanted to catch it,” Keaschall said, per the St. Paul Pioneer Press. “I got a good read on it, but then it started to die a little bit. I tried to let up, got caught in between and just tried to get my body in front of it. It bounced to my left and got by me.”
Keaschall and Minnesota will look to atone on Monday against Cleveland. The Twins have won four of the six meetings between the teams this season.
Like Minnesota, Cleveland committed many costly miscues in its 7-1 setback to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday. Gabriel Arias and Patrick Bailey miscommunicated on a pickoff attempt, and the former also failed to retag second base, which resulted in one of five outs on the bases for Cleveland.
“We’re a young team and we’re going to make mistakes,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “We’ve talked about it the whole year. That’s where our coaches and I need to step up and teach more. We need to get our players better.”
Steven Kwan had two singles, giving him 11 hits during his six-game hitting streak. He is just 3-for-18 in six games this season against Minnesota
The series opener features a battle of right-handers, as All-Star Joe Ryan (6-5, 2.85 ERA) of the Twins will square off against Tanner Bibee (3-9, 3.90) of the Guardians.
Ryan struck out a pair of batters during one scoreless inning of work in the All-Star Game on Tuesday.
He also was dominant leading into that game, going 2-2 with a 1.93 ERA after allowing six earned runs with 36 strikeouts over his previous five outings (28 innings).
Ryan, 30, allowed one run on two hits with five strikeouts in six innings in his one appearance against Cleveland this season. He received a no-decision in that contest on May 9, however he is 3-5 with a 2.83 ERA in 13 career appearances (12 starts) versus the Guardians.
Bibee enjoyed a rare positive moment in his last outing, yielding one run on five hits in 6 2/3 innings of a 4-1 victory over the Miami Marlins on July 11. That victory was his first in nearly one month.
He pitched well in his lone appearance against both Ryan and Minnesota this season. He permitted one run on one hit and struck out nine in six innings of a no-decision.
Bibee, 27, is 2-0 with a 2.83 ERA in 10 career appearances (all starts) versus the Twins.
–Field Level Media
