Series Preview: Indians at Twins

Now that the Indians have finally wrapped up their season series against the World Series-favorite Royals, they head on the road to face the Twins, who are merely 1.0 game ahead of them in the division and 7-3 in their last 10 games.

Team in a box

Projected starters

Friday, Sept. 11, 8:10 p.m. ET: RHP Kenta Maeda vs. Shane Bieber
Kenta Maeda cruised to two wins over the Indians season with a combined 13 strikeouts and one earned run over 11.0 innings. He’s been great this season when not facing the Indians too. All but two have qualified as quality starts; if his 2.77 ERA holds it’ll be new career low.

Saturday, Sept. 12, 8:07 p.m. ET: LHP Rich Hill vs. Zach Plesac
Other than one bad outing against the Brewers on Aug. 19, Rich Hill has enjoyed a lot of success in his first year in Minnesota, though his underline performance suggests his 3.86 ERA might get worse by season’s end. He’s striking out fewer batters and walking more than he normally does, with an expected batting average among the worst in baseball.

Sunday, Sept. 13, 2:10 p.m. ET: RHP Michael Pineda vs. Triston McKenzie
It’s hard to believe that Michael Pineda is 31 already. The veteran righty, who was once a flamethrowing top prospect, now sits with mediocre stuff across the board. Pineda missed a chunk of the season finishing up a PED suspension. In his two starts this year he’s allowed a combined four earned runs and 12 strikeouts in 13.0 innings.

Lineup Highlight

Nelson Cruz, DH - Nelson Cruz remains an ageless wonder with a 195 wRC+ and 15 home runs as a 40-year-old. A couple more splashes in the age-defying pool he found and maybe he can hit the 84 dingers he needs to get into the 500 club before he retires.

Twins roster

• 40-man roster
• Depth chart