Twins at Tigers
With the Minnesota Twins on the verge of their first three-game losing streak of the season, Max Kepler almost singlehandedly carried the American League Central leaders to a victory in their last contest. The Twins' leadoff hitter hopes to prove Thursday's offensive explosion is a sign his roller-coaster last three weeks is back on the upswing when Minnesota visits Detroit for the first of three games against the Tigers on Friday.
Kepler batted .452 with four home runs and 16 RBIs during a 10-game stretch from May 16-28 before going into a 0-for-21 slump over the first five contests of Minnesota's 10-game road trip. The 26-year-old ended his struggles in a big way Thursday, finishing for 4-for-4 with three homers, four RBIs and three runs scored in the Twins' 5-4 win to avoid a three-game sweep in Cleveland. Detroit trailed Minnesota by 6 1/2 games as recently as May 12, when the Tigers took two of three on the road from the Twins, but find themselves 17 games behind as a result of dropping 16 of their last 21 contests. Their losing ways continued Thursday as Detroit fell for the fourth time in five tries following a 6-1 setback to Tampa Bay.
TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, FS North (Minnesota), FS Detroit
PITCHING MATCHUP: Twins RH Kyle Gibson (6-2, 3.75 ERA) vs. Tigers LH Matthew Boyd (5-4, 3.01)
Gibson needed 88 pitches to get through five innings, but allowed only one unearned run on six hits and a walk during Saturday's win at Tampa Bay. The Indiana native has given up seven of his nine homers this season on the road but is averaging more than a strikeout per inning for the first time in his career, posting a 63:15 strikeout-to-walk ratio across 62 1/3 frames. Gibson went 2-1 with a 3.15 ERA in three turns versus the Tigers last season but is 8-8, 5.13 in 19 career outings against them.
Boyd gave up a run for the first time in his last three trips to the mound in Sunday's no-decision at Atlanta, permitting three of them on five hits while fanning nine across five innings. The Oregon State product ranks seventh in the majors with 97 strikeouts and has held the opposition to three earned runs or fewer in 12 of his 13 turns. Kepler (1-for-14) is among a handful of Twins who have struggled versus Boyd, who went 1-3 with a 5.40 ERA in five starts against Minnesota in 2018.
WALK-OFFS
1. Kepler is responsible for two of the 10 three-homer performances in club history.
2. Detroit OF JaCoby Jones is batting .419 during his 12-game hitting streak.
3. Twins SS Jorge Polanco has reached base safely in 21 straight contests.