CLEVELAND -- The Twins will shake up the lineup a bit for the finale game of a three-game series at Progressive Field tonight (6:10, FSN) in hoping to avoid their first three-game losing streak of the season.
Nelson Cruz, who homered in Wednesday night's 9-7 loss, centerfielder Byron Buxton and third baseman Miguel Sano are sitting out against Indians righty Trevor Bauer (4-5, 3.76 ERA).
The Twins (40-20) have now lost a series for the fifth time this season.
Only one Twins team has ever recorded their first three-game losing streak later in the season: the 1970 Twins, who lost three in a row from June 17-20.
Jose Berrios (7-2, 3.27) pitches for the Twins.
Here's the lineup card:
Some other pregame notes, courtesy of the Twins PR folks:
2B Jorge Polanco has a career-best 20 game on-base streak, longest since Logan Morrison did it 23 games in a row last April 20-May 16.
The Twins have 114 home runs this season and are on pace to hit 307, which would break the major league record of 267, done by the Yankees last season. They lead baseball in both home runs-per-game (1.90) and at-bats-per-home runs (18.11).
LF Eddie Rosario hit his 18th home run Tuesday night, already nine short of his career-high of 27, done in 2017. He is on pace for 48 homers and is second in the AL behind Gary Sanchez of New York, who has 19.
The Twins are tied with Tampa Bay for second in baseball with 423 batted balls measured with an exit velocity of 100 mph-or-more. They have 99 home runs measured at 100+ mph, trailing only Seattle (100). RF Max Kepler leads the club with 48 batted balls at 100+ mph.
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La Velle E. Neal III has covered baseball for the Star Tribune since 1998 (the post-Knoblauch era). Born and raised in Chicago, he grew up following the White Sox and hating the Cubs. He attended both the University of Illinois and Illinois-Chicago and began his baseball writing career at the Kansas City Star. He can be heard occasionally on KFAN radio, lending his great baseball mind to Paul Allen and other hosts.
Phil Miller covered three seasons of Twins baseball, but that was at a different ballpark for a different newspaper. Now Miller returns to the baseball beat after joining the Star Tribune as the Gopher football writer in 2010, and he won't miss the dingy dome for a minute. In addition to the Twins and Gophers, Miller covered the Utah Jazz and the NBA for six years at The Salt Lake Tribune.
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