Twins, Guardians send out key starters for late-season playoff push

Pablo Lopez has been especially solid for the Minnesota Twins of late.

Meanwhile, Matthew Boyd hasn't been too shabby since joining the Cleveland Guardians.

Currently two of the American League's best pitchers, Lopez and Boyd square off Monday night in Cleveland, where these American League Central foes continue their respective pushes toward the postseason.

Minnesota (79-70) sits third in the division, 6 1/2 games behind the first-place Guardians, and owns a 2 1/2-game edge for the third and final AL wild-card spot. Since Aug. 18, the Twins are 9-17, but have won three of five after avoiding being swept by the Cincinnati Reds with their 9-2 victory Sunday.

Lopez (15-8, 3.88 ERA), meanwhile, has earned a win in each of his past four starts. The right-hander is 7-1 with a 2.05 ERA in his past 11 starts, has allowed five earned runs in his past six and none in four of the past five.

On Tuesday against the Los Angeles Angels, Lopez allowed four runs in the fifth inning, three coming on Zach Neto's homer, but all were unearned. Lopez went on to complete seven innings and strike out 10, while helping the Twins snap a four-game slide.

"Yes, our margin for error keeps shrinking, but we're just in the mindset that winners focus on winning," said Lopez, who is three quality starts shy of matching his career-high 20 set in 2023.

Lopez, however, hopes to be more efficient than in his previous 2024 start against the Guardians. On April 4, he allowed four runs (three earned) and six hits over 5 2/3 innings of Minnesota's 4-2 loss to Cleveland. For his career, he's 2-2 with a 3.64 ERA in five starts against the Guardians.

Meanwhile, Boyd (2-1, 2.18) remains a pleasant surprise since he signed in late June while recovering from elbow surgery and made his Guardians' season debut on Aug. 13. The 33-year-old left-hander has allowed more than one earned run just once in his six starts with Cleveland, which has won 11 of 17 to move closer to clinching a postseason berth.

Like Lopez, one bad inning modestly blemished the final line from Boyd's most recent start on Wednesday against the lowly Chicago White Sox. He yielded four runs in the third inning of Cleveland's 6-4 road win, but only one was earned. In addition to giving up six hits and two walks, Boyd struck out nine through 4 1/3 innings.

"With how good I felt, I shouldn't have fallen behind in some counts and when it came down to it, just chances to put guys away," said Boyd, who is grateful for the opportunity he's been given by the Guardians.

"The gratitude I have to be here with the squad and to be part of this amazing group of guys, it's immense."

From his days in Detroit, Boyd is 9-8 with a 4.62 ERA in 23 career starts against the Twins.

Minnesota's Carlos Santana is 10-for-35 with three doubles and a homer against Boyd. Santana homered for one of his three hits Sunday, and is batting .353 with four home runs and eight RBIs in his last 10 contests.

Cleveland star Jose Ramirez had two hits in the Guardians' 2-0 victory Sunday over Tampa Bay. He's also hit three of his 35 homers versus Minnesota in 2024.

--Field Level Media