The Thursday matchup between the Cleveland Indians and the Minnesota Twins will feature a pitching duel of two players that are in the midst of a late-season surge. Both Phil Hughes and Corey Kluber have pitched well lately for their respective teams as the inch closer to the top of the statistical leaderboards. Both the Twins and Indians are in need of wins so the pitcher who can put together the best performance will likely determine the game.
Kluber is looking to win his seventh straight decision on Thursday as the Twins aim to get the series sweep. He is currently sitting close to the top of the MLB leaderboards in ERA as he has a 2.41 ERA overall on, but is currently working a 6-0 record and 1.31 ERA in his last eight starts. In his last six starts, he has held opponents to a .161 batting average while going 4-0 with 55 strikeouts. In his last start against Baltimore, he gave up just one run while striking out 10 in the second straight start of pitching over seven innings. Against the Twins, he is 2-1 with a 4.82 ERA in seven starts.
Hughes is working well as well. He is 13-8 with a 3.76 ERA on the season. Against the Indians he is 3-1 with a 2.61 ERA in his last five starts. Hughes has won all three starts in August while putting together 22 strikeouts. He has allowed just one run in each of those starts. He will be tasked with getting the Twins to break their four-game losing streak while cooling down the Cleveland Indians who have won seven of their last seven of nine games.
Mike Aviles is leading the Indians right now. He put together a home run with three hits and two RBIs on Wednesday while currently batting .444 against the Twins in his last eight games. The Twins will get one break as Nick Swisher is not going to be playing after undergoing season-ending knee surgery on Wednesday.
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