Red-hot Guardians continue AL Central chase vs. Twins

Down the stretch they come.

With 10 games to go in the regular season, the Cleveland Guardians are picking up momentum as they approach the finish line. They will look to stay hot as they play the Minnesota Twins for four games in the next three days, starting with a series opener Friday night in Minneapolis.

Cleveland (81-71) is coming off a sweep over the Detroit Tigers. The Guardians have won seven in a row and 12 of their last 13 to pull within 3 1/2 games of the Tigers for first place in the American League Central. They also are just 1 1/2 games behind the Boston Red Sox for the final AL wild-card spot.

Not bad for a team that trailed Detroit by as many as 15 1/2 games on July 8.

"We've got to keep the mindset we've had for the past two months," Guardians slugger Jose Ramirez said through a team interpreter. "Give our best, and see what happens at the end."

It remains to be seen whether the Guardians will have enough to complete their late-season rally, but manager Stephen Vogt has confidence that his players can do it.

"We know we have to take this one day at a time," Vogt said. "But this group of guys, through everything they've been through, they have not lost the faith that we are a very good team and we can do this."

Minnesota (66-86) will try to play the spoiler role. The Twins have been in a freefall, losing 12 of 16 games in September. Ruining a division rival's momentum is about all they have left to look forward to as a long offseason looms.

The Twins are coming off two losses in three games this week against the New York Yankees. It marked their fifth series loss in a row.

Twins outfielder Matt Wallner is uncertain for the series opener against Cleveland. He departed Wednesday's game because of back spasms and is set to be re-evaluated on Friday.

Wallner, 27, is hitting .202 with 22 home runs and 40 RBIs in 104 games.

"Probably get some (medical) imaging just to be sure we're doing OK," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. "He didn't look like he was in a terrible spot. He just looked a little tight."

Guardians left-hander Parker Messick (3-0, 1.84 ERA) is set to make the sixth start of his rookie campaign in the series opener. He has four walks and 22 strikeouts in 29 1/3 innings in the big leagues.

Messick is aiming for his third consecutive quality start. In his last outing, he limited the Chicago White Sox to one run on seven hits in six innings.

This will be Messick's first start against Minnesota.

The Twins will counter with right-hander Pablo Lopez (5-4, 2.64), who will make his 14th start of the season and his third since coming off the injured list early this month. He allowed two runs (none earned) on four hits in five innings in his most recent outing against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Lopez has faced the Guardians seven times in his career. He is 2-3 with a 3.40 ERA.

-Field Level Media