The Minnesota Twins will go for a three-game sweep against the Chicago Cubs when the teams meet Thursday afternoon in their series finale in Minneapolis.
The Twins are coming off back-to-back victories — 8-1 on Tuesday and 4-2 on Wednesday. Minnesota has won four of its past five games to climb within two games of .500 with four games remaining before the All-Star break.
Twins manager Rocco Baldelli praised his players for being aggressive on the basepaths in Wednesday’s win over the Cubs. It is something that he wants to see continue on Thursday.
On one play, Ryan Jeffers charged hard toward third base and was waved home by third-base coach Tommy Watkins. On another play, Royce Lewis scored on a delayed steal after Matt Wallner was caught in a rundown between first and second base and Lewis took off for home.
Baldelli said it was important to manufacture runs against quality opponents such as the Cubs. He noted that Jeffers might have been thrown out at the plate if not for a delayed relay throw.
“You’re going to have to find a way to push some runs across,” Baldelli said. “They’re not all going to come easily.
“If the relay is executed cleanly (with Jeffers trying to score), who knows, maybe we’re out. But you know what? You put the pressure on the other side, make something happen.”
Meanwhile, the Cubs are eager to make something happen at the plate.
Chicago has scored only three runs in the two games against the Twins. That is a significant departure from their previous series, when they scored 28 runs in three games against their division rival St. Louis Cardinals.
Cubs manager Craig Counsell said it was important for his hitters to get off to better starts.
“It was a quiet night again,” Counsell said. “The Twins have a very good bullpen, so it’s kind of inherent that you get their starters. And the first two days of the series, we have not.”
The Cubs’ next chance will come against Twins right-hander Chris Paddack (3-7, 4.64 ERA), who will make his 19th start of the season. He is coming off a no-decision against the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday when he allowed two runs on five hits in five innings.
Paddack has made two starts against the Cubs in his career. He is 1-1 with a 4.35 ERA in those games, with 13 strikeouts and two walks in 10 1/3 innings.
Cubs right-hander Colin Rea (6-3, 4.13) will look to help his team avoid the sweep. Rea is looking for his third straight victory after beating the Houston Astros and the Cardinals in his previous two starts.
Rea made one start against the Twins in 2023. He took the loss after giving up four runs on five hits in five innings.
Twins outfielder Byron Buxton could be unavailable in the series finale after he was hit on the left pinky finger by a pitch on Tuesday. He initially stayed in the game before leaving.
Buxton, who is set to take part in the All-Star Game festivities next week, is not expected to miss significant time after being hit on the finger.
“It looks like he’s going to be OK,” Baldelli said. “He had some imaging done and it came back all right. He was pretty sore, though, so we’ll see (about Thursday).”
–Field Level Media
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