MLB Game Preview - Minnesota at Detroit
Fri Aug 30, 2019 7:10 PM EDT

MIL
1
CHC
7
F
NYM
11
PHI
5
F
MIA
6
WSH
7
F
OAK
8
NYY
2
F
HOU
7
TOR
4
F
MIN
13
DET
5
F
CLE
0
TB
4
F
CHW
7
ATL
10
F
SEA
3
TEX
6
F
BAL
14
KC
2
F
PIT
9
COL
4
F
LAD
4
ARI
5
F
BOS
7
LAA
6
F(15)
SD
3
SF
8
F
CIN
STL
PPD
Twins seek more history against hapless Tigers
Fri Aug 30, 2019 3:11 AM

A four-game series against the worst team in baseball should be the ideal setting for the Minnesota Twins to make some history.

The Twins can set the major league record for home runs in a season during the holiday weekend at Detroit's Comerica Park. They hit three more on Thursday, including two by outfielder Jake Cave, in a 10-5 win over the Chicago White Sox.

They have 261 entering the weekend, needing seven more to set the record.

"This is awesome," Cave said on a postgame TV interview. "Whenever we do break that record, it's going to be cool to say regardless of whatever happens the rest of my career that I was part of the team that held the record."

Minnesota established the single-season record for most road home runs (141 and counting) while completing a three-game sweep of the White Sox. The San Francisco Giants had 138 in 2001.

Cave has provided the power in the last six games, bashing five home runs. He blasted three against Detroit last weekend in Minnesota.

"I feel good," he said. "I'm just trying to keep with my same routing regardless of what happens outside of the hits. The strikeouts, I've just got to remember that's going to happen. Just because you're hot doesn't mean you're going to get a hit every time."

The Twins will try to extend their five-game winning streak and at least maintain their 3 1/2-game lead over Cleveland in the Central Division on Friday.

Minnesota will start right-hander Kyle Gibson (12-6, 4.49 ERA), who defeated the Tigers at home on Saturday despite allowing five runs (four earned) on 10 hits in 5 1/3 innings. He fanned eight batters that day, tying his second-highest strikeout total since the beginning of June.

He's 9-9 with a 5.37 ERA in 21 career starts against Detroit.

The Twins overpowered Detroit's scheduled starter, journeyman right-hander Edwin Jackson, in the same game Saturday. They scored six runs on seven hits, including a pair of homers, in five innings against Jackson en route to that 8-5 victory.

Jackson (3-7, 8.70 ERA) is 2-2 in four starts with Detroit this month after being recalled from Triple-A Toledo. He's 1-5 with a 6.33 ERA in 11 career appearances against the Twins, including seven starts.

The Tigers have lost five straight and got swept at home by Cleveland in a three-game series this week.

Designated hitter Miguel Cabrera missed the last two games of the series with a biceps injury. He took swings in the batting cage on Thursday, but his status for the weekend is questionable.

"It's sore and stiff," manager Ron Gardenhire said. "So we'll just go day-to-day with him."

The longtime manager of the Twins is in his second season with Detroit. Overseeing a major rebuilding project has been rough on Gardenhire, and he's unsure of his status for next season.

"I have a contract for next year, and if they want me to come back next year, that's fine. If they don't want me to come back next year, then so be it," he told reporters. "I've been in baseball a long, long time, and we're doing everything we can. Next year, let's see where we go. Next year, that's up to Al (Avila, general manager) and those guys."

--Field Level Media

Team Record Comparison

Team Standings GB W-L Aw/Hm Stk L10
Minnesota            
Detroit            

Scheduled Starting Pitchers

Kyle Gibson - STL
Matchup
Season
vs. Opp Has not pitched vs. Detroit
Edwin Jackson - (N/A)
Matchup
Season
vs. Opp Has not pitched vs. Minnesota

Hot Batters (Last 10 team games)

Injury Report

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