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If you are looking for a serious series, this is it. Until now, there has not been an important, meaningful series played in Minnesota this late in the season since 2010. With postseason aspirations hanging in the balance and the regular season schedule coming to an end, the Twins begin perhaps the most significant three-game set of the year at Target Field, against the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday night. Of course, the Indians will not make it easy. Over their last thirty games, not many teams have played better baseball than they have. Amassing a 19-11 record, only the Toronto Blue Jays have compiled a better American League record than Cleveland over that stretch. Can the Twins overcome Cleveland’s reinvented brand of baseball and make headway in the Wild Card race?At the trade deadline, the Indians began to ship out their veteran players, trading the likes of outfielder David Murphy, Brandon Moss, Michael Bourn and Nick Swisher and using less known commodities in guys like Abraham Almonte and Giovanny Urshela instead. Those moves were also preceded by the promotion of super-rookie Francisco Lindor in June. Like the Twins whose recent play has been fueled by young players like Miguel Sano and Eddie Rosario, the Indians have turned the keys over to the kids. “That’s what we talked about at the (trade) deadline,” Indians manager Terry Francona told reporters. “We wanted to see younger guys, but we also would never sacrifice winning, ever.” Two of the game’s better hitters in the second-half of the season have been Lindor (.356 BA, 3rd highest in the second half), who has cemented his role in the two spot of the team’s lineup, and Michael Brantley (.347, 8th highest in 2nd half), who has hit directly behind Lindor in the order. The pair has managed to do this by pasting fastballs. Lindor has hit an MLB-high .461 off of fastballs in the season’s second half while Brantley has hit .408 (4th highest). The Twins pitching staff would be better served feeding the duo a steady diet of off-speed and breaking balls this series. With Lindor sandwiched between Jason Kipnis and Brantley at the top of the lineup the Indians suddenly have one of the most productive one-two-three combination. Whereas the Twins’ first three hitters are posting a .665 OPS since the break (third lowest in MLB), the Indians have produced at a robust .855 OPS (third best). This all has led to a renaissance of run production for the Tribe: After averaging 3.92 runs per game in the season’s first half, the Indians’ offense has been a much better supporter of the team’s pitching efforts in the latter portion of the year, plating 4.5 runs per game. It has not been just the offense that has improved. Reducing runs scored has been a major factor for the team’s strong second-half. Defensively, the addition of Lindor at short and Urshela at third has given the Indians a significant boost in run prevention. In the season’s first half, the team posted a -1 runs saved. Since the break they have saved 19 runs, the second most in baseball. “We knew that if we got to a point in time that we felt we weren’t making the progress we hoped as a team, that we had a couple of very good defensive options for us in Triple-A in Francisco Lindor at shortstop and obviously Giovanny Urshela at third base,” the Indians General Manager Chris Antonetti told Grantland.com’s Ben Lindbergh. “We felt pretty confident in their defensive ability to come up and contribute at the major league level.” While the Twins’ offense has been better at Target Field, the Indians pitching staff has also been one of the stingiest when it comes to allowing runs on the road in the second half of the season. Since the break Cleveland’s hurlers have averaged 3.69 runs per game while playing outside of Progressive Field -- only the St Louis Cardinals (3.64) have fared better in that time. Leading the way for the Tribe in that time is Wednesday’s starter, Corey Kluber. The Indians veteran right-hander has posted a 7.00 strikeout-to-walk ratio in the second-half, coming in behind just Clayton Kershaw and Madison Bumgarner in that department. Meanwhile, in their three meetings in 2015, Kluber has saved his best and limited the Twins’ lineup to just seven hits in 82 at-bats (.085 BA). Tuesday night’s starter, Danny Salazar, has compiled a 3.10 ERA over his last 69.2 innings while racking up 66 strikeouts courtesy of a mid-90s fastball and a swing-and-miss changeup. Similar to Kluber, Salazar has had plenty of success versus the Twins this year, holding them to a .159 average against while striking out 21 in 13 innings. Oh, and the game doesn’t get any easier once Cleveland turns to the bullpen either. Since the break, the Indians relievers have allowed just 1.1 runs per game -- only the Blue Jays’ pen has allowed fewer runs in that span. Will the Twins separate themselves from the Indians and make headway for their first postseason berth in five years? Regardless of the outcome, this stands to be the most important series to be played on Minnesota soil in quite some time. Make sure to get to the ballpark. Click here to view the article

The last time the Astros won more than 70 games, Ke$ha’s “Tik Tok” was the number one song that year according to Billboard’s annual charts. If you didn’t remember that or remember who Ke$ha is, you are excused because no one remembers 2010 or the last time Houston won more than 70 games. That was also the last year the Twins won more than 70 games. If you didn’t recall that, I guess that’s the kind of memory you have when you brush your teeth with a bottle of Jack. Nobody expected 2015 to be much different for the two teams, either. At ESPN, all of the analysts buried the Twins in the Central while most believed that the Astros would be outclassed by the higher-spending Mariners or Angels. Now the two teams, both of whom are in playoff contention, will meet this weekend to prove which can outperform expectations better.While we know the Twins’ are playing winning baseball because of dance parties and Miguel Sano, let’s take a look at how are the Astros doing this. For Houston, the biggest factor is that they have made it extremely difficult to score runs off their pitching staff. Since the start of the second half, they have averaged just 2.97 runs allowed per game -- tied with the St. Louis Cardinals for the lowest. The Twins are fortunate to miss their top two starters in Dallas Kuechel and Collin McHugh this series but will still face lefty Scott Kazmir and Mike Fiers. Fiers, as participants of the DomiNoNo contest will remember, threw a no-hitter and tragically won everyone a free medium Domino’s pizza two starts ago. Download attachment: 2nd Half ERA.png Aiding in the run reduction has been the liberal use of the defensive shift. The Astros have repositioned their fielders all over the diamond to provide the maximum advantage. Only the Tampa Bay Rays have shifted on more occasions this year but the Astros have had 32 more instances than the Rays where the play was impacted by the shift. So either the Astros are positioning smarter or are luckier than the Rays. Download attachment: shift.png Whereas the pitching staff is mature -- they have second oldest collections of throwers in the American League -- the offense has all the young dudes (boogaloo dudes). None more youthful than 20-year-old shortstop Carlos Correa. While Twins fans are fanning themselves nightly over the displays of power from Sano, Astros fans have seen 100 plate appearances more of Correa who has performed well on both sides of the ball. Not only can he hit, he can cover a ton of ground in the infield. This series could prove to be an interesting showcase for the AL Rookie of the Year. Offensively, overall, the Astros are an interesting case study. The forward-thinking front office has compiled a lineup that isn’t necessarily the on-base machines that the Moneyball A’s were known for. Their .214 batting average is the lowest in the American League and their on-base percentage is in the bottom five. Their strategy for scoring runs involves stealing tons of bases (they have swiped an AL-leading 97 bags) and hitting dingers (174). The two game plans (running wild and swinging for the fences) don’t jive considering that the kind of fence-clearing power could score a runner from any base. There is no question that this is a significant series for both teams. The Twins are trying to maintain their position in the wild card race and the Astros are trying to distance themselves from the rest of the AL West. This should be a can’t miss series. Click here to view the article

This looks like the most compelling home series the Twins have played in five years. Is it the worst possible time to play the Tigers, or the best? On the one hand, the Tigers offense is clicking, they’ve won four of their last five series, and they’re 7-2 already this season versus Twins, the team they need to catch if they want to return to the postseason. On the other hand, the Tigers are barely above .500, they just lost their star player, their pitching has been abysmal, and a losing series (or, god forbid, a sweep) could make them re-evaluate their status at the trade deadline.The Tigers' road to their fifth straight divisional Central Division championship has been bumpy. After averaging 92 wins per year for the last four years, the Tigers have been struggling to clear .500. Their offense has been their savior; ranking third in the American League in runs scored. However, a lot of that was fueled by Miguel Cabrera and his 1.034 OPS, and he’s not going to be around for this series – or for this month. Cabrera has a Grade 3 calf strain and is expected to be sidelined for six weeks, meaning the Tigers won’t have him back until mid-August, two weeks after the trade deadline. However, his absence hasn’t significantly slowed down the potent Tigers lineup. In the five games he’s been out, they’ve still averaged more than seven runs per game. Manager Brad Ausmus can still write high-powered names in the lineup, like J.D. Martinez (24 HR), Yoenis Cespedes (800+ OPS) and Viktor Martinez, who has a 1.111 OPS since Cabrera was put on the disabled list. The Tigers enter today’s game 2.5 games behind the Twins, meaning a series win would put them right back in the mix for the Wild Card race. On the other hand, a series loss would put them back down to .500 and 4.5 games back. If they fall much further, the Tigers are going to need to make a tough decision. That’s because a few of their best players - starting pitcher David Price, closer Joakim Soria, and Cespedes - will become free agents at the end of the year. As General Manager Dave Dombrowski found out this summer with Max Scherzer, losing players like that for nothing can really hurt the future of a team. He’ll need to at least entertain the idea of swapping those players for players that can help them in 2016, when perhaps pitcher Justin Verlander (6.75 ERA) returns to form and Cabrera is again healthy. For those reasons, it’s hard to know for which team this is a bigger series. But make no mistake – it’s big. Let’s look at the pitching matchups. Thursday – 7:10 – David Price (8-2, 2.54) vs Mike Pelfrey (5-5, 3.94) Mike Pelfrey might be looking forward to a restful All-Star break more than most; he’s had three bad starts of his last five. Price, meanwhile, has a 1.90 ERA since June 1. The Tigers have a great opportunity to reassert their season-long dominance in the first game of this series. Friday – 7:10 – Justin Verlander (0-2, 6.75) vs Ervin Santana (0-0, 2.25) Both teams’ destinies are tied closely to these two starters who have been out most of the season. Verlander missed time with a triceps strain and had been inconsistent in his four starts since. Santana faced an 80-game suspension for PED use but was dominant in his first start last Sunday. Saturday – 3:05 – TBA, but probably Alfredo Simon (8-5, 4.18) vs. Phil Hughes (7-6, 4.19) Those stats couldn’t be much closer for these two, but the expectations couldn’t be much further apart. Hughes is supposed to be the Twins workhorse, and has been with 111.2 IP, but a slow start and WAY too many home runs have hurt his overall numbers. Simon has been hanging on to the Tigers’ back of the rotation for well over a year. Sunday – 1:10 – TBA, but probably Shane Greene (4-6, 5.82 ERA) vs. Kyle Gibson (7-6, 3.04) Greene is in the minors, but looks to be the likely callup. He was in Detroit’s rotation until he was demoted to Toledo in the beginning of June. Gibson has looked increasingly dominant each month of the season; his K/9 rate by month: April – 2.4, May – 5.4, June – 8.2, July – 9.0. Click here to view the article

If the MLB regular season were to end today … we would probably be a little bummed. I mean, it just started. But we would be comforted knowing that the Twins would still be playing, because they enter this series tied for the last AL Wild Card spot. So which game to see? As usual, we’ll break it down scientifically.Game Most Likely To See A Twins Comeback The A’s have started this year the way they finished last year. You would think that would be a good thing for a team that made the postseason. It’s not. Oakland was 72-45 on August 9th and in first place in the AL West by four games. They finished ten games behind the Angels after finishing the year with only 16 wins in their last 45 game stretch. They held on – by one game – for the last Wild Card spot over Seattle, but lost the Wild Card play-in game to the Royals. They had the greatest run differential in the American League but it meant nothing within days of the end of the regular season. Fast forward to this year, where the A’s have outscored their opponents by eighteen runs – but are somehow four games below .500 and in third place in the AL West. The biggest culprit seems to be a bullpen whose 4.92 ERA ranks last in the American League. They still have two relievers – Tyler Clippard and Evan Scribner – who are exceptional and can handle high leverage innings. But get their starters out in the middle innings and the A’s must rely on much less dependable arms. Monday night’s A’s starter, Jesse Hahn, has just a 2.86 ERA, but he has yet to pitch more than six innings and the only time he made it through the sixth was in his first start of the year. Plus, he’s been dealing with a blister issue. Getting him – or any of the A’s starters – out of the game early bodes well for some late inning excitement in Target Field. Winner: Monday Game Most Likely To See Some Weird Sh… Stuff Monday night is May the fourth, which sounds like “May the Force” which means it’s Star Wars Night at the ballpark. There is a special ticket offer which allows you to get a special “Hughes the Force” (which sounds like “Use the force”) bobblehead that has pitcher Phil Hughes dressed up like a Jedi. It occurs to me that some of you have no idea what any of that previous paragraph means. Just trust me – there are going to be some bizarre things going on at Target Field that night, especially because it was also Comic Con weekend….oh, you don’t know what that is, either. Again, trust me. One way or the other, you’re going to remember Monday night. Winner: Monday Game To Go To If You’re A Minnesota Wild Fan You’ll miss the first half of the Wild game if you go to Tuesday night’s Twins game. I might suggest going to the afternoon game on Thursday and then heading over to 7th Street for some pregaming before the 8:30 faceoff. Pace yourself. Winner: Thursday Game Most Likely To See A Twins Win The A’s starter on Wednesday night is Scott Kazmir, who has resurrected his career and is sporting a 1.62 ERA this year. He also beat the Twins twice last year, though they did score five runs against him in the second of those. But other than Kazmir, things look quite a bit better. We’ve covered Hahn on Monday, and the other two starters have both been vulnerable. Drew Pomeranz, who starts on Thursday, hasn’t pitched more than 5.1 innings since his first start of the year. And Jesse Chavez, who starts Tuesday, was just moved into the rotation. Winner: Thursday, and I say that knowing full well that Ricky Nolasco is pitching for the Twins. Game Most Likely To Stay Dry After having a gorgeous weekend, the week looks like it’s going to be wet, which is the way it should be. It doesn’t look like there will be any rainouts, but Monday is the only night without a decent chance of rain. Winner: Monday. Best Giveaway At least if it rains on you on Thursday, it won’t ruin your shoes. You can wear the flip-flops that the Twins are giving to the first 10,000 fans for that afternoon game. Nothing says “I value you as a client” more than seeing each others' bare feet. Winner: Thursday Click here to view the article

It's going to be a crowded weekend for sports fans. Gorgeous weather plus the dreaded White Sox mean it's a perfect weekend to catch a game - but which one? As usual, we break it down scientifically: Best Game To Watch An Ace Pitcher Before He Serves A Suspension The White Sox had two pitchers suspended for “five games”: Chris Sale and Jeff Samardzija. But Samardzija pitched in Wednesday’s bizarre empty-ballpark game, so Twins fans will only get to watch Sale this series. He pitches Thursday night.Watching him might be fun for pitching connoisseurs, but likely won’t be for Twins fans. Sale has a career 2.37 ERA versus the Twins, which includes nine starts and eight relief appearances. Not that the suspension would have pushed him back more than a single game anyway, but he’s appealing it, which is why the Twins get to see him this homestand. Winner: Thursday, unless the Twins can find a way to get Sale suspended some more. Hmmm… Best Game To Watch the White Sox Lose Their Minds We all know by now that the way to make the White Sox go Defcon 6 and pile up a bunch of suspensions is to yell at one of them after a comebacker. But that takes a special kind of crazy, as demonstrated by Royals pitcher Yordano Ventura. Unless the Twins plan on putting Oswaldo Arcia on the mound, I don’t think we have a player who can generate those kind of fireworks. But hitting a few Sox with pitches might do the trick. Only one pitcher on the Twins staff has hit more than one guy with a pitch this year: Mike Pelfrey. He’s also known as one of the nicest guys in the game, unfortunately. But that won’t necessarily stop the White Sox. Winner: Sunday, because Pelfrey pitches that day. Unless the Twins decide to let Oswaldo Arcia pitch, in which case you do whatever it takes to make it to the ballpark Like miss the birth of your only child. Trust me on this. . Best Weather The baseball gods might not like Twins fans, but we’re in good standing with the weather gods this year. We have four straight days of 70s and 80s coming up and May is just starting. It doesn’t look like rain during game time for any of the matchups right now, with the possible exception of Sunday. So let’s go with: Winner: Saturday, because it’s an afternoon game and 81 degrees. #SuckItWinter Least Likely To Interfere With Binge Watching The NFL Draft Winner: Sunday, which is also the day there is a chance for rain. The weather gods apparently hate the football gods. Best Game For Getting A Free Beer And Celebrating The Wild In The Playoffs Friday night the Twins play at 7:00 and whenever you lose interest in the game, you can stroll two block over to Mason’s (6th and Hennepin) and join the MinnCentric guys, including yours truly, at our Wild Support Group Game One Party. It’s free and includes a free beer and “Lucky Lemon Bar”. It does not get better than this. Winner: Friday Best Game For A Sneaky Twins Victory The White Sox this year only have a 541 OPS as a team against left-handers. That includes a loss against Tommy Milone, who takes the hill for the Twins on Saturday afternoon. The White Sox just haven’t faced many southpaws so far this year – but that’s a good thing too. Winner: Saturday Best Game At Which To Catch A Home Run Ball White Sox first baseman Jose Abreu has started 2015 right where he ended 2014 – by slugging the snot out of defenseless baseballs. He already has five home runs on the year and most have been pulled to left field, which is the easiest place to hit home runs in Target Field. By the way, I see a pair or tickets in the second row of section 128, right next to the left field foul pole, for just $11 apiece on Ticket King. Winner: Four way tie. Best Game At Which To Meet The Love Of Your Life Twenty-five years ago tonight I was mocked for my exceptional volleyball skills by a cute Philadelphia blonde. Four years to the day later, I married her. We have spent most April 30ths since then, and several other key moments, at baseball games and Thursday night will be no exception. If you’re looking for magic in this world, I highly recommend a baseball park. It has worked for me. Winner: Me. Click here to view the article

Happy Opening Day! The Home Opener will get all the attention (and attendance). But which Twins/Royals game is "The Ticket" this week? We’ll break it down….. Best Pitching Matchup Monday, beacuse it includes Trevor May and he’s so important to this season. After spending over $100M on free agent pitchers the last two years, the Twins need some help. The 25-year-old May could be a big part of the rotation for several years to come.Last year, we watched May come up and walk the ballpark in his first game, but he ratcheted up his control after that, walking 15 guys in 43.2 IP – versus 44 strikeouts. He also looked pretty good in limited time in spring training. But what you’ll really want to watch is how he pitches with runners on base. That was a significant issue: he was a different pitcher when pitching from the stretch. Last year he had a .241 batting average against when the bases were empty, but .421 batting average against when a runner was on. When the bases were empty, he struck out four times as many batters as he walked. But when a runner was on, he walked more than he struck out. He was also three times more likely to give up a home run with a runner on base. May can look unstoppable when he is working with a clean slate. But when runners get on base, his pace slows, his control loosens and he looks flustered. Is it mechanics? Confidence? Composure? A little of each? See for yourself. Winner: Monday. Which Game Has Been Immediately Preceded By Five Months Of Not Going To A Baseball Game? Trick question. The answer is: Winner: All of them (provided you only go to one of the games). Which Game Has The Best Tickets Available? Well, the home opener has been sold out for weeks, thanks in part to a sweet sweatshirt you can get. The good news is Ticket King still has home opener tickets available for as low as $120. The next two games are the targets of true bargain hunters. I see reasonable Target Field tickets for Wednesday, but I see a whole slew of tickets under $10 for Thursday. (And they’re even cheaper if you use Twins Daily’s secret discount code below.) Winner: Thursday Which Game Can I Expense? The home opener allows your client to miss work, brag to their friends and start happy hour early. Seems like it’s custom made to me. Winner: Monday What If I Work For A Living? Then Wednesday night’s 7:10 game is for you. Plus, you’ll get to watch Kyle Gibson, who may need to work for a living if he doesn’t do a better job than that 3.2 inning start last Wednesday at Detroit. Winner: Wednesday Which Game Will Have The Best Weather? Spring sprung just in time for this series and for the whole homestand. Opt for the third game, which starts at 12:10 PM, giving you lots of sunshine and Vitamin D. Winner: Thursday because Vitamin D is important. Best Game For The Family Not only is Wednesday’s game the only one outside of school hours, it will also give you a chance to talk up Jackie Robinson to your kids, since the Twins (and all of MLB) will be celebrating the 68th anniversary of his first game. If you really want to make an impression, use the off day on Tuesday to watch the movie 42. Winner: Wednesday What If I Want To See The World Make No Sense? The Royals are the American League pennant winners AND off to a 6-0 start this season. Those are both hard to believe. But the big surprise is what has driven their hot start: home runs. The Royals rank second in major league baseball with eight home runs this year. That is amazing because -- as well as last year’s AL Champs played -- their power was anemic. They Royals hit just 95 home runs last year. This year they’re on pace for 216. And it’s not like they added a bunch of sluggers. One could argue that their biggest power addition was Kendrys Morales. Yup, the same Kendrys Morales who hit one home run in his seven weeks with the Twins. So if you want to see a team continue to surprise us, I recommend…… Winner: Monday, because there is no way this lasts, right? There you have it: Monday's home opener wins with three votes, but you can’t go wrong when baseball, spring and good weather come together. We’ll see you at the ballpark. Click here to view the article