Series preview: Guardians vs. Twins

Make no mistake about it: This is the most important series of the season for the Guardians. Their chances of conserving their 1.5-game lead in the AL Central lives or dies this weekend. Put it all on the table, because this is it.

... until next week when they play a five-game series against the Twins followed by a three-gamer against the White Sox.

If it weren’t for the Twins and Guardians stinking up the joint in September, this could easily be a two-team race for the division. But both of them have stumbled since the month began while the White Sox came in hot. That means every game from here on out matters. None of these teams are beating out the Blue Jays, Mariners, or Rays for a Wild Card spot (and you could make the argument they barely deserve a spot for winning the Central), so it’s either win or be forced to watch the Browns from home in October.

Luckily, the pitching matchups in this Twins series heavily favor the Guardians. They’ll turn to the only three real starters they have left in Cal Quantrill, Triston McKenzie, and Shane Bieber while the Twins continue their decade-long tradition of questionable pitching. Sonny Gray, Minnesota’s best starter by a mile, pitched yesterday when the Twins did the impossible and finally won a game in Yankee Stadium.

Team at a glance

• Record: 69-67 (8th in AL)
• Runs Scored: 594 (7th in AL)
• Run Differential: +19 (7th in AL)
• Last 10: 4-6
• Slash: .248/.318/.407
• wOBA: .317 (5th in AL)
• wRC+: 109 (4th in AL)
• ERA: 4.00 (10th in AL)
• SIERA: 3.87 (8th in AL)
• K-BB%: 14.4% (8th in AL)

Projected starters

Friday, Sept. 9, 8:10 p.m. ET: RHP Dylan Bundy vs. RHP Cal Quantrill
Saturday, Sept. 10, 7:15 p.m. ET: RHP Chris Archer vs. RHP Triston McKenzie
Sunday, Sept. 11, 2:10 p.m. ET: TBD (RHP Aaron Sanchez*) vs. RHP Shane Bieber

*pitching prediction via FanGraphs’ Roster Resource

Roster

• 40-man roster
• Depth chart