Twins face Cleveland with Guardians charging hard in second place

THREE-GAME SERIES AT TARGET FIELD

All games on BSN, 830-AM, 102.9-FM

Tuesday, 6:40 p.m.: RHP Joe Ryan (5-3, 2.81 ERA) vs. RHP Aaron Civale (2-3, 7.84)

Wednesday, 6:40 p.m.: RHP Sonny Gray (3-1, 2.09) vs. RHP Triston McKenzie (4-5, 2.96)

Thursday, 12:10 p.m.: LHP Devin Smeltzer (3-1, 3.52) vs. RHP Zach Plesac (2-4, 4.41)

TWINS UPDATE

The top two teams in the AL Central standings play eight times in 10 days, including a five-game series next week in Cleveland that includes a doubleheader on June 28. The first-place Twins (38-30) won two of three from the Guardians at Target Field last month, with Ryan pitching the Twins to a 3-1 victory in the series finale on May 15. Ryan is 2-0 with a 1.00 ERA in three career starts against Cleveland. ... CF Byron Buxton homered twice in that series — once off Civale, who comes off the injured list to start Tuesday, and once off McKenzie, who starts Wednesday. 3B Gio Urshela also went deep twice. ... The Twins are 8-9 this month. ... OF Kyle Garlick was activated from the injured list on Sunday. Garlick has hit six home runs in 28 games and 60 at-bats this season.

GUARDIANS UPDATE

The Guardians (34-28) are 5-1 on their current nine-game road trip. After a three-game sweep in Colorado, they won two of three from the Dodgers in Los Angeles over the weekend. ... The Guardians have gone 15-4 since May 29 and have won six consecutive series. ... Rookie OF Oscar Gonzalez is hitting .337. He hit his first career home run in Sunday's 5-3 victory over the Dodgers. He hit 31 home runs in the minor leagues last season and nine in 41 games with Class AAA Columbus this season. ... 3B Jose Ramirez, hitting .305 with 16 home runs and 62 RBI, missed his first two games of the season over the weekend and had a magnetic resonance imaging exam on his right thumb Sunday. ... DH Franmil Reyes, sidelined since May 25 by a right hamstring injury, is expected to rejoin the team Tuesday.