Hard-hitting Twins on the upswing going into series against Guardians

The Minnesota Twins are riding high as they return to their home ballpark.

Minnesota's next mission is to maintain its winning ways heading into the All-Star break. The Twins open a three-game series against the American League Central Division-rival Cleveland Guardians on Tuesday evening in Minneapolis.

"We're continuing to hit," said infielder Brooks Lee, who tallied three of Minnesota's 12 hits in Sunday's road win against the New York Yankees. "(We) pitched good (and our) bullpen was good. We're coming up clutch when we need to, but we're creating opportunities and playing good defense.

"You can't ask for much more."

The Twins will start right-hander Taj Bradley (7-3, 3.86 ERA) in the series opener. He aims for consecutive wins after earning a victory against the Houston Astros on Wednesday, when he allowed one run and struck out 11 in five innings.

On the season, Bradley has 102 strikeouts in 88 2/3 innings.

This will be Bradley's fourth career start against the Guardians. In his first three outings, he is 1-1 with a 1.65 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 16 1/3 innings.

Cleveland will counter with left-hander Joey Cantillo (7-3, 3.86), who will make his 19th start of the season and the 40th start of his three-year career. He is nine strikeouts shy of 250 for his career.

Cantillo is 3-0 with a 1.88 ERA over his past four starts. He has allowed five runs on 15 hits in 24 innings during that span.

In six career appearances (four starts) against the Twins, Cantillo is 0-2 with a 3.52 ERA. This will be his first meeting against Minnesota in 2026.

The Guardians hope to bounce back after dropping two games in a row against the Chicago White Sox over the weekend. They had won three straight games before falling short 3-1 on Saturday and 7-6 on Sunday.

Cleveland is waiting for third baseman Jose Ramirez to return, as he is on the injured list due to a broken left hamate bone. Outfielder Angel Martinez is also on the injured list with a broken left foot.

Rookie outfielder Chase DeLauter said he and his Guardians teammates understand the importance of winning division games, including the next three coming up against the Twins.

"We always know at the end of the season you might look back and need a game or two," DeLauter said. "I think we go out there, treat every game like it's a playoff game, and we'll look up at the end of the year and be happy where we're at."

Twins All-Star outfielder Byron Buxton's status is uncertain for the series opener after he aggravated a previous hip injury in Sunday's win over the Yankees. Buxton downplayed the injury and said he left the game early because of precautionary reasons.

"A little sore," Buxton said. "I wasn't feeling too hot. I don't want to put the team in a bad spot by me trying to go out there and be Superman by trying to play one game and I end up missing a month or whatever the situation is."

--Field Level Media