Phil Hughes (0-2, 5.25 ERA) and the Minnesota Twins (4-6) go up against T.J. House (0-1, 40.50 ERA) and the Cleveland Indians (3-6) in the second of a three-game division series at Target Field. The Twins won the last game 3-2 and Minnesota leads the series 1-0. The game gets underway at 2:10 p.m. ET on Saturday, Apr. 18 and will air on STO and FSN-N.
Hughes is 4-1 with a 2.80 ERA, 39 strikeouts and six walks against the Indians in his career. Brian Dozier (.231, 5 Rs, 1 HR, 3 RBIs) went 1 for 4 yesterday. In his pitching opportunities against the Twins, House is 3-0 with a 2.01 ERA, 20 strikeouts and seven walks. Mike Aviles (.227 ) went 1 for 2 yesterday.
Minnesota, a -131 favorite, will look to capitalize at home against Cleveland. The Over/Under (O/U) for the matchup is eight runs.
On the other side, the Indians have a record of 1-2 when they are the underdog and are -253 overall with the money line. Against divisional foes, they are 1-4 SU and have a poor 0-1 record when they were an underdog to win. Cleveland has stepped up their play against division opponents. They have averaged 4.0 runs per game, more than their season average of 3.4. Opposing pitchers have routinely struggled to strike out the Cleveland batters, who rank fourth in the AL with 7.3 strikeouts per road game. Switching gears to Cleveland’s pitching staff, they have the lowest road ERA in the AL at 1.04. They also average just 2.7 hits allowed per road game, best in the AL.
So far this season, the Twins are 1-0 against the Indians.
Predictions: SU Winner – CLE, O/U – Over
Notes
In their last game, the Indians lost by a margin of one run. The Twins are 1-1 in one-run games. The Indians have a 0-1 record in close games.
Minnesota has lost all of its games (0-3) when leading after 7 innings. However, Cleveland has won 33% (1-2) of its games when taking a late lead.
The Twins managed to give up five walks in their last game. They’ll have to pick it up against the Indians who are coming in with a 0-2 record against opponents who give up that many walks or more.
When they are outhit, the Indians are 0-4. The Twins have a 2-6 record when opponents outhit them.
Minnesota and Cleveland both rank near the bottom of the league in home runs. Minnesota sits at 25th with six home runs this season and Cleveland ranks 28th with five.
Ranking 12th, Minnesota is in the top half of the league in hits, notching 7.22 per game. Cleveland ranks in the top 10 at 10th with 7.38.
Ranking 30th, Minnesota is at the bottom of the league for its on-base plus slugging percentage (.579). Cleveland ranks near the bottom at 27th with an OPS of .608.
The Indians are 1-5 in games where they allow one or more home runs. The Twins are 2-5 when they allow at least one homer.
