In the second of a three-game series between the Cleveland Indians (10-18) and the Minnesota Twins (10-18) at Progressive Field, Bruce Chen (0-0, 0.00 ERA) and Phil Hughes (1-4, 5.02 ERA) take the mound. The Twins won the last game 9-3 and Minnesota leads the series 1-0. The game gets underway at 4:10 p.m. ET on Saturday, May. 9 and will air on FSN-N and STO.
Chen is 5-8 with a 5.62 ERA against the Twins in his career, and faces a solid Minnesota offense that’s hitting .261 on the year. Michael Brantley (.337, 14 Rs, 3 HRs, 15 RBIs, 4 SBs) went 1 for 4 yesterday with one run, one home run, and one RBI. In his pitching opportunities against the Indians, Hughes is 4-2 with a 3.14 ERA, 42 strikeouts and seven walks. Torii Hunter (.280, 14 Rs, 4 HRs, 18 RBIs, 1 SB) has been doing well, going 4 for 4 yesterday with two runs, one home run, and four RBIs.
Cleveland is a small underdog (-104) and the Over/Under (O/U) is set at nine runs. The Indians perform poorly as an underdog with a 4-7 record and have an overall money line of -1,003. They have disappointing records of 3-5 as the underdog and 6-14 SU within their division. The Indians typically don’t swing at bad pitches, which has led to an AL-high 4.1 walks per home game. Cleveland’s pitching staff has fallen apart in the past 10 games. Its average runs allowed per game rose to 6.4 during that span, compared to its 5.0 season average. An area where the Indians are particularly strong is striking batters out, where they average an AL-best 9.3 K’s per game.
Moving on to the opposing team, the Twins come into this game with a solid win percentage of .667 when playing as the favorite (4-2) and an overall money line of +612. They have played at the top of their game when rated as favorite recently. They managed a 4-1 record when playing as the favorite and an SU record of 8-2. During the last 10 games, they averaged 6.9 runs per game, above their 4.6 season average. Minnesota is one of the top hitting teams in the AL with an average of 8.8 hits per contest.
In their previous four games this season, the Twins have a 3-1 record. The Indians will take on a right-hander (Hughes) in this game and have a 7-8 record against right-handed starting pitchers this season. The left-handed Chen will take the mound against the Twins. Against lefty starters this season, they’ve racked up an impressive 9-5 record.
Predictions: SU Winner – MIN, O/U – Over
Notes
When leading after 7 innings, Cleveland is 4-7, while Minnesota is 2-5.
The Indians are coming off of a hot pitching game where they recorded nine strikeouts. The Twins have a record of 5-7 when they are struck out that many times or more.
It looks like the Twins have a slight leg up on the Indians, as the Twins have won their last three games while the Indians have lost their last two.
When they outhit their opponents, the Indians are 8-2. The Twins have a 13-0 record when outhitting opponents.
Ranking 17th, Cleveland is in the bottom half of the league in runs, scoring 122 this season. Minnesota ranks in the top five at fifth with 142.
Ranking 18th, Minnesota is in the bottom half of the league in walks, notching 81 this season. Cleveland ranks in the top 10 at seventh with 98.
The Indians are 9-9 in games where they hit one or more home runs. The Twins are 12-3 when they hit at least one homer.
