Twins righthander Kenta Maeda leads major league baseball's starting pitchers in WHIP (walks + hits per innings pitched) at 0.72. His opponent tonight, Cleveland's Shane Bieber, is dominating the rest of the statistical battles.
Bieber is 7-0 with a 1.25 ERA and 94 strikeouts in 57.2 innings, leading the majors in wins, ERA and strikeouts. His 1.60 FIP (fielding independent pitching) is also baseball's best. He's 5-0 in 10 games (nine starts) vs. the Twins with 76 Ks in 59.2 innings.
The Twins and Cleveland begin a three-game series (7:10 p.m., FSN) at Target Field with rain in the forecast. The teams are battling Chicago for first place in the American League Central; they are tied for second, a game behind the White Sox.
The Twins put second baseman Luis Arraez on the 10-day injured list, retroactive to Wednesday, because of left knee tendinitis and recalled pitcher Devin Smeltzer from the St. Paul site.
Phil Miller took a look at the baseball playoff scenario in a nice enterprise story here.
Maeda is 4-1 with a 2.77 ERA in his first season with the Twins after coming from the Dodgers for "The Bazooka" Brusdar Graterol.
Lineups:
CLEVELAND
