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By Judd Zulgad |

Zulgad’s Roundup: Surprise, surprise: Twins, Guardians set to battle for AL Central lead

MLB: Texas Rangers at Cleveland Guardians
Jun 8, 2022; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians catcher Austin Hedges (17) and relief pitcher Emmanuel Clase (48) celebrate a win over the Texas Rangers at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-USA TODAY Sports

Many of the predictions made in April had the Twins and Cleveland finishing close in the American League Central standings. However, the expectation was that the teams would be near the cellar. But as the Twins (38-30) and Guardians (34-28) prepare to begin a three-game series on Tuesday at Target Field, Minnesota finds itself holding a one-game advantage over the Guardians for the division lead.

The Twins will play eight of their next 11 against Cleveland, including five next week on the road, and the teams are scheduled to play 16 more times this year. Minnesota took two of three from the Guardians at Target Field to drop Cleveland to 16-17 on May 15. But the Guardians (34-28) have been hot since June started, winning 13 of 17 and eight of their past 10. That includes winning two of three from the NL West-leading Dodgers this weekend in Los Angeles.

What’s remarkable about Cleveland’s success is its ownership appeared to have no interest in fielding a competitive club. The Guardians’ payroll is $68.215 million, according to Spotrac.com. Only Oakland ($47.992 million) and Baltimore ($45.121 million) have smaller payrolls. The Twins are ranked 16th at $137.976 million.

The Guardians’ lack of offensive pop after Jose Ramirez was expected to be their Achilles’ but the franchise’s ability to find solid pitching has continued to be a key.

The Guardians’ team ERA of 3.57 is sixth in the big leagues and fourth in the AL. What has been especially impressive is the work of the team’s bullpen. While the Twins’ starters have a better ERA (3.83 to 4.03 — the Twins are 15th in the major leagues, the Guardians 17th), Cleveland’s bullpen has the second-best ERA in the big leagues at 2.81. The Twins’ relievers are ranked 13th with a 3.87 ERA.

The probable starters for the series will be righthander Aaron Civale (2-3, 7.84 ERA in seven starts) vs. righty Joe Ryan (5-3, 2.81 in nine starts) on Tuesday; righty Triston McKenzie (4-5, 2.96 in 12 games, 11 starts) vs. righty Sonny Gray (3-1, 2.09 in eight starts) on Wednesday; and righty Zach Plesac (2-4, 4.41 in 12 starts) vs. lefthander Devin Smeltzer (3-1, 3.52 in seven starts).

The Twins will miss Cleveland starters Shane Bieber (3-3, 3.00) and Cal Quantrill (4-4, 3.77) this week, but they won’t be able to avoid a bullpen led by closer Emmanuel Clase (15 saves, 1.59 ERA in 30 games) and Eli Morgan (1.62 ERA in 20 games) and Shoreview native Sam Hentges (1.64 ERA in 21 games).

Ramirez, who signed a reported seven-year extension for $141 million in April, has been outstanding at the plate and is slashing .305/.397/.642 with 16 home runs and 62 RBI in 60 games. His batting average, home runs, RBIs, on-base percentage and hits (69) lead Cleveland. He leads the AL in RBIs and triples (four).

Ramirez missed the final two games of the Dodgers series because of a sore right thumb. He underwent an MRI on Sunday and it’s unclear if he will be back in the lineup on Tuesday.

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