It’s not a matter of if but when the Cleveland Guardians clinch another AL Central title. Every time the Tribe play the Minnesota Twins, they have a chance to shrink their magic number by two. Cleveland is favored on the MLB odds to do that Wednesday.
The Indians are somewhat going through the motions right now because they know they are playoff bound and essentially locked into their seed – they’ll open at the AL West champion. The key is getting healthy. In that regard, No. 2 starter Trevor Bauer threw off a mound Monday. It was his first mound workout since he suffered a fracture in his right fibula when he got struck by a comebacker on August 11. Bauer likely won’t return until mid-September. The 27-year-old right-hander has put up a 2.22 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, and 214/56 K/BB ratio over 166 innings this season.
As of Tuesday, Cleveland owns a 38-19 record (.667) vs. the A.L. Central this season, tied with Atlanta (42-21, .667) for the 2nd-best intradivisional record in MLB (Boston – 45-19, .703). The Tribe’s 2.86 ERA vs. their own division is the lowest in MLB. Plutko cruised through his first four innings against Boston on Thursday before being charged with five runs in a six-run fifth inning. The righty struck out four and walked five in the 101-pitch loss to the Red Sox.
The Indians currently own a 16-8 record (.667) in August, tied with Tampa Bay, Oakland and Chicago-NL for the 2nd-most wins in MLB this month (St. Louis is 19-5). It’s Tribe’s most wins in a month this season, after previously winning 15 games each in March/April and May (14 wins in both June and July).
Melky Cabrera is batting .400 (18-45) over his past 14 games. Since August 12, he leads the Indians in home runs (5), RBI (15), runs scored (11), slugging percentage (.800), OPS (1.260) and doubles (3 – T1st).
Adam Plutko (4-4, 5.09) is on the bump. Plutko cruised through his first four innings against Boston on Thursday before being charged with five runs in a six-run fifth inning. The righty struck out four and walked five in the 101-pitch loss to the Red Sox.
Plutko will be making his second career appearance (first start) against the Minnesota Twins. He previously appeared in relief on June 16 at Progressive Field, allowing one run on two hits (1 HR) over 2.0 innings (0BB, 1K). Plutko has gone 3-1 with a 4.88 ERA (17ER/31.1IP) in four starts (six appearances) at Progressive Field this season.
Twins at Indians MLB Odds & Game Info – September 29th
When: Wednesday, 7:10 PM ET Where: Progressive Field, Cleveland Probable pitchers (away/home): Kohl Stewart/Adam Plutko TV: MLB Extra Innings Stream: MLB.tv Radio: Minnesota / Cleveland Opening MLB Lines: Indians -180, Twins +170 (9.5)FINAL: Indians 8, #MNTwins 1.
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) August 29, 2018
Why Bet on Minnesota?
The Twins entered Tuesday’s series opener on a three-game skid, losing each of those by at least four runs. Some think that manger Paul Molitor might not be back. With the team playing out the string, the Twins have started shutting guys down. Starting pitcher Adalberto Mejia (wrist, arm) won’t be back this year. Mejia has been on the disabled list since August 8 with a nerve issue in his left arm and there’s not enough time for him to get stretched back out. The 25-year-old southpaw should to be 100 percent leading into the start of spring training. Fellow starter Michael Pineda has been shut down for the remainder of the season with a torn meniscus in his right knee. Pineda is fully recovered from Tommy John surgery and pitched well in four minor league rehab appearances, posting a 1.50 ERA with nine strikeouts across 12 innings, but the Twins will have to wait until 2019 to see what they have. Minnesota signed the former Yankee to a two-year, $10 million free agent contract this past winter knowing he might not pitch this year. Must be nice, paid $5 million to not pitch. Eddie Rosario is hitting .339 (82-for-242) with 12 doubles, three triples, 15 home runs, 34 RBI and 40 runs scored in 64 career games vs. Cleveland; the homers, hits and RBI all being his personal most vs. any opponent. His hits vs. Cleveland since 2015 lead baseball. In in 33 career games at Progressive Field, he is hitting .376 (47-for-125); in his last 10 games here, he has four hits three times and three hits once. Joe Mauer is hitting .315 (118-for-375) with 34 doubles, 48 walks and a .392 on-base percentage in 96 career games at Progressive Field. It’s rookie Kohl Stewart (0-1, 2.14) on the mound. Stewart has allowed three runs in each of his three career starts. He’s coming off his longest outing, vs. the A’s on Thursday, when he went 4 2/3 innings while striking out six. Stewart hasn’t faced Cleveland.Why Bet on Cleveland?
The Indians are somewhat going through the motions right now because they know they are playoff bound and essentially locked into their seed – they’ll open at the AL West champion. The key is getting healthy. In that regard, No. 2 starter Trevor Bauer threw off a mound Monday. It was his first mound workout since he suffered a fracture in his right fibula when he got struck by a comebacker on August 11. Bauer likely won’t return until mid-September. The 27-year-old right-hander has put up a 2.22 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, and 214/56 K/BB ratio over 166 innings this season.
As of Tuesday, Cleveland owns a 38-19 record (.667) vs. the A.L. Central this season, tied with Atlanta (42-21, .667) for the 2nd-best intradivisional record in MLB (Boston – 45-19, .703). The Tribe’s 2.86 ERA vs. their own division is the lowest in MLB. Plutko cruised through his first four innings against Boston on Thursday before being charged with five runs in a six-run fifth inning. The righty struck out four and walked five in the 101-pitch loss to the Red Sox.
The Indians currently own a 16-8 record (.667) in August, tied with Tampa Bay, Oakland and Chicago-NL for the 2nd-most wins in MLB this month (St. Louis is 19-5). It’s Tribe’s most wins in a month this season, after previously winning 15 games each in March/April and May (14 wins in both June and July).
Melky Cabrera is batting .400 (18-45) over his past 14 games. Since August 12, he leads the Indians in home runs (5), RBI (15), runs scored (11), slugging percentage (.800), OPS (1.260) and doubles (3 – T1st).
Adam Plutko (4-4, 5.09) is on the bump. Plutko cruised through his first four innings against Boston on Thursday before being charged with five runs in a six-run fifth inning. The righty struck out four and walked five in the 101-pitch loss to the Red Sox.
Plutko will be making his second career appearance (first start) against the Minnesota Twins. He previously appeared in relief on June 16 at Progressive Field, allowing one run on two hits (1 HR) over 2.0 innings (0BB, 1K). Plutko has gone 3-1 with a 4.88 ERA (17ER/31.1IP) in four starts (six appearances) at Progressive Field this season.
Latest MLB Betting Trends for Twins at Indians
- Minnesota is 1-5 ATS in the last 6 games
- Minnesota is 1-5 SU in the last 6 games
- The total went UNDER in 4 of Minnesota’s last 6 games on the road
- Cleveland is 2-4 ATS in the last 6 games
- Cleveland is 16-7 SU in the last 23 games
- The total went UNDER in 5 of Cleveland’s last 7 games at home
- 9 of 17 games in this series have gone under the total this season
