Twins

Twins set to tussle with AL Central competitor Cleveland

The teams will play one another six times in 10 days, with three games at each team's home field.

By Joel Rippel

August 27, 2023 at 11:54PM

Cleveland rookie Tanner Bibee earned his 10th victory of the season Friday at Toronto; no other Guardians pitcher has more than six wins. (Christopher Katsarov, Canadian Press via AP/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

THREE-GAME SERIES AT TARGET FIELD

All games on BSN, 830-AM and 102.9-FM

Monday, 6:40 p.m.: RHP Xzavion Curry (3-2, 3.51 ERA) vs. RHP Kenta Maeda (3-7, 4.22)

Tuesday, 6:40 p.m.: RHP Gavin Williams (1-5, 3.52) vs. RHP Pablo López (9-6, 3.69)

Wednesday, 12:10 p.m.: RHP Tanner Bibee (10-3, 3.01) vs. RHP Sonny Gray (7-6, 3.06)

GUARDIANS UPDATE

The Guardians (62-69) trail the Twins by six games in the American League Central but face them six times in the next 10 days; the teams play at Cleveland next week. The Guardians won two of three from the Twins at home in May and split a four-game series at Target Field in June. ... Bibee, a rookie, got a no-decision in the Twins' 7-6 victory over Cleveland on June 1. He gave up three runs in five innings. ... Williams, a rookie, will make his first career appearance against the Twins. ... Curry, who has spent most of the season in the bullpen, is making his first start. He pitched one scoreless inning against the Twins in May. … The Guardians designated RHP Noah Syndergaard for assignment Sunday, a month after acquiring the veteran starter. ... OF Will Brennan, who sat out two games after hurting his right knee Thursday, returned to the lineup Sunday, when Cleveland beat host Toronto 10-7 in 11 innings.

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TWINS UPDATE

The AL Central-leading Twins (68-63) came from five runs down Sunday to beat Texas, their third victory in four games over the Rangers, who fell out of first place in the AL West. ... RF Max Kepler didn't start Sunday but ended up 2-for-2, his third game in a row with two hits. He is batting .320 in August and is 10-for-23 in his past seven games. ... The Twins are 14-10 this month and are 23-19 vs. the AL Central. ... López gave up six runs and eight hits in 5⅔ innings vs. Cleveland on June 1, when the Twins came back from three runs down in the eighth inning to win. ... 1B Alex Kirilloff, who has been on the injured list since July 30, could begin a rehabilitation assignment later this week. IF Willi Castro, who has been sidelined since Aug. 15, is on a rehab assignment with the Saints.