Guardians at Twins

Target Field – Minneapolis, MN

7:40 PM ET

SuperBook Line: Minnesota -160 | Cleveland +150

Seemingly out of nowhere, this is a big matchup in the American League Central. A quick look at the standings shows that the Guardians have crept within one game of the Twins.

How on earth did that happen? On May 26, Cleveland was sitting at 18-23. They didn’t look anything like a contender. Meanwhile, Minnesota was once 27-16, on cruise control in the division.

Since then, however, things have changed. The Guardians are 16-5 in their last 21 games, while the Twins are just 11-14 in their last 25. They’re two ships heading in different directions.

Cleveland is coming off a road trip in which they won five of six, including a sweep of the Rockies and taking two out of three from the Dodgers. Minnesota just dropped two out of three to the Diamondbacks.

Tonight, the Guardians try to draw even in the AL Central. They’ll need their bats to carry them, as the pitching matchup isn’t favorable.

Aaron Civale is 2-3 on the season with a whopping 7.84 ERA. The righty did pitch 6.1 solid innings last time out, however, leading Cleveland to a win.

Minnesota counters with Joe Ryan. He’s 5-3 on the year with a 2.81 ERA. He gave up four runs in 4.2 innings his last time out, however.

Thus, there will be opportunities for Jose Ramirez and company to keep swinging hot bats. The Guardians third baseman is hitting .471 in the last seven days. He leads the team in batting average (.305), home runs (16) and RBI (62) this season. And he has the top OPS (1.039) in the American League.

Cleveland is rolling. They pull the upset tonight in Minnesota.

Richard DeMala’s pick: Cleveland M/L (+150)

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