Detroit tries for series win against Twins
Detroit Tigers (64-94, third in AL Central) vs. Minnesota Twins (73-84, second in AL Central)
Minneapolis; Thursday, 8:10 p.m. Eastern
PROBABLE PITCHERS: Tigers: Francisco Liriano (5-11, 4.40 ERA, 1.49 WHIP, 105 strikeouts) Twins: TBD
BOTTOM LINE: Both Detroit and Minnesota are seeking to win the series with a victory. The Twins are 37-34 against the rest of their division. Minnesota has a collective .248 batting average this year, led by Eddie Rosario's .288 mark. The Tigers are 9-16 in games started by Liriano. The Detroit pitching staff is limiting opponents to just a .257 batting average on the season. The Twins won Wednesday's contest 11-4. Tyler Duffey picked up his second win of the season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Nicholas Castellanos is batting .300 with a .351 on-base percentage and .500 slugging percentage in 153 games this season for the Tigers. Christin Stewart has a .250 batting average, nine hits and nine RBIs over his past 10 games for Detroit. Max Kepler is hitting .222 with 115 hits and 19 home runs in 152 games this year for the Twins. Jorge Polanco has 14 hits and is batting .333 over his past 10 games for Minnesota.
LAST 10 GAMES: Tigers: 4-6, .245 batting average, 4.55 ERA, outscored by 14 runs. Twins: 6-4, .296 batting average, 3.76 ERA, outscored opponents by 16 runs.
TWINS INJURIES: The Minnesota Twins transferred RHP Ervin Santana to the 60-day disabled list with a third finger MCP joint on his right hand on Saturday.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by HERO Sports, and data from Sportradar.