Cubs face Twins, aim to build on Hendricks' strong showing

Posted September 19, 2020 7:00 am

By The Associated Press

Minnesota Twins (31-22, second in the AL Central) vs. Chicago Cubs (31-20, first in the NL Central)

Chicago; Saturday, 8:15 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Minnesota: Michael Pineda (1-0, 3.57 ERA) Chicago: Alec Mills (5-3, 3.93 ERA)

BOTTOM LINE: Chicago heads into the matchup after a dominant performance by Kyle Hendricks. Hendricks pitched eight innings, giving up zero runs on three hits with 10 strikeouts against Minnesota.

The Cubs are 19-12 on their home turf. Chicago is slugging .398 as a unit. Ian Happ leads the club with a .561 slugging percentage, including 24 extra-base hits and 12 home runs.

The Twins have gone 10-17 away from home. The Minnesota pitching staff owns a combined team ERA of 3.63, Kenta Maeda paces the staff with a mark of 2.52.

TOP PERFORMERS: Happ leads the Cubs with 12 home runs and has 28 RBIs.

Nelson Cruz leads the Twins with 16 home runs home runs and is slugging .623.

INJURIES: Cubs: Brad Wieck: (hamstring), Jose Quintana: (left lat), James Norwood: (right shoulder), Tyler Chatwood: (right elbow), Andrew Chafin: (left finger), Daniel Descalso: (ankle).

Twins: Jake Odorizzi: (finger), Trevor May: (back), Homer Bailey: (biceps), Jorge Alcala: (ankle), Brent Rooker: (right forearm), Luis Arraez: (knee).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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