Sept. 16 – Pablo Lopez has been particularly impressive lately with the Minnesota Twins.
Meanwhile, Matthew Boyd hasn’t been too bad since joining the Cleveland Guardians.
Lopez and Boyd, two of the best pitchers in the American League right now, will face off Monday night in Cleveland as the American League Central rivals continue their respective playoff attempts.
Minnesota (79-70) is third in the division, 6 1/2 games behind the first-place Guardians and 2 1/2 games back for the third and final AFC wild-card spot. The Twins are 9-17 since Aug. 18 but escaped a loss to the Cincinnati Reds with a 9-2 win Sunday and have now won three of five games.
Meanwhile, Lopez (15-8, 3.88 ERA) has won each of his last four starts. The right-hander has a 7-1 record with a 2.05 ERA in his last 11 starts, allowing a 5 ERA in his last 6 games and 0 runs in 4 games.
Lopez gave up four runs in the fifth inning against the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday, three of which came on Zac Nieto’s home run, but they were all unearned. Lopez completed seven innings and struck out 10 while helping the Twins avoid a four-game losing streak.
“Yes, our margin for error is getting smaller, but we have the mentality that winners focus on winning,” said Lopez, who is three games away from a career-high 20 starts in 2023.
However, Lopez expects to be more efficient than he was with the Guardians in 2024. On April 4, he allowed four runs (3.3 ERA) and six hits in 5 2/3 innings in Minnesota’s 4-2 loss to Cleveland. For his career, he has started in five games against the Guardians and is 2-2 with a 3.64 ERA.
Boyd (2-1, 2.18), meanwhile, has been a pleasant surprise since signing in late June while recovering from elbow surgery and making his Guardians debut on Aug. 13. The left-handed pitcher has allowed just one ERA in his six starts in Cleveland, which has won 11 of 17 games and inched closer to a playoff berth.
Like Lopez, a poor outing in the final inning of Boyd’s most recent start, against the weak Chicago White Sox on Wednesday, slightly tarnished his last sentence. In Cleveland’s 6-4 road win, he walked four in the third inning but only one was earned. In addition to giving up six hits and two walk-offs, Boyd struck out nine in 4 1/3 innings.
“With how good I feel, I shouldn’t be behind in certain areas, and at the end of the day, it’s a chance to put an opponent away,” said Boyd, who is grateful for the opportunity given to him by the Guardians.
“I’m so grateful to be here with the team and to be part of this amazing team, it’s a huge thing.”
Dating back to his days in Detroit, Boyd has started 23 career games against the Twins and is 9-8 with a 4.62 ERA.
Minnesota’s Carlos Santana went 10 for 35 against Boyd with three doubles and a home run. Santana, who had one of his three hits Sunday, a home run, is batting .353 with four home runs and eight RBIs in his last 10 games.
Cleveland star Jose Ramirez had two hits in the Guardians’ 2-0 win over Tampa Bay on Sunday. He hit three of his 35 home runs against Minnesota in 2024.
–Visual-level media
