Cleveland @ Minnesota preview
Target Field
Last Meeting ( Sep 16, 2009 ) Cleveland 3, Minnesota 7
Cleveland Indians manager Manny Acta was upset last week that Shin-Soo Choo wasn’t getting the recognition he deserved.
All of that is quickly changing.
Choo was named the American League’s player of the week after driving in 10 runs in his last four games - all Cleveland victories. Choo was the only player in the AL last year to hit .300 with 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases. He’s well on his way to improving on those numbers this year.
As Cleveland travels to Minnesota for the start of a three-game series on Tuesday, Choo leads the team in average (.350), runs (10), hits (14), doubles (three), homer runs (four), RBIs (12) and stolen bases (three).
Choo will be hard-pressed to match the Twins’ No. 3 hitter, though. Joe Mauer destroyed Cleveland en route to his MVP season last year.
Mauer batted .536 last year against the Indians, his highest average against any opponent last year. He knocked in 10 runs in 15 games and carries an 18-game hitting streak against the Indians into Tuesday.
It will be Cleveland’s first look at Target Field, where the Twins have won each of their first two series. Minnesota has won its first four series to start a season for the first time in franchise history. Even in their four losses, the Twins have still brought the tying or winning runs to the plate in the late innings.
The Indians are suddenly one of the hottest teams in baseball. Their four-game winning streak is tied with the New York Yankees for the second-longest in baseball, behind Tampa Bay’s current seven-game winning streak.
Cleveland followed a five-game skid by sweeping the Chicago White Sox and climbing back to .500 after it was expected to finish near the bottom of the AL Central. Instead, the Indians head to Minneapolis 2 ½ games behind the division-leading Twins.
The Tribe will have to get a better performance from Justin Masterson to continue the streak. Masterson has pitched well this season, as proven by his 2.45 ERA, but he lost a pair of starts to the Twins last year and finished with a 6.75 ERA after walking 10 in 9 1/3 innings.
Minnesota will counter with Kevin Slowey, who won both of his starts against the Indians last year with an impressive 1.84 ERA. But Slowey has failed to make it through six innings in either of his first two starts. He has uncharacteristically walked a combined six in his first two starts.