Struggling Twins Face Brewers Buzzsaw at American Family Field
Milwaukee has built one of the most commanding records in baseball at 72-44, and tonight they host a Minnesota squad sitting below .500 at 58-59. This is a steep hill for the Twins to climb, and the pitching matchup will go a long way toward determining whether they can pull off something unexpected.
Taj Bradley is expected to take the mound for Minnesota, facing a Brewers lineup that has the look of a legitimate contender. Robert Gasser is set to start for Milwaukee, and the Brewers' home-field advantage at American Family Field adds another layer of difficulty for a Twins team that has been treading water all season. When a team is 14 games under .500 on the road against a club 28 games over, the margin for error essentially disappears.
On the Minnesota side, the offensive production has been uneven at best. Kody Clemens leads the club with 19 home runs, and Josh Bell has been the run-producer with 68 RBI — respectable numbers, but the Twins will need both of them to be factors tonight. Luke Keaschall's .262 average gives Minnesota a contact option at the top of the order, though the Twins will need more than a few singles to keep pace. In my opinion, Minnesota's best path to a win runs directly through Clemens finding a pitch he can drive out of the park.
Milwaukee's lineup is legitimately dangerous across the board. Jackson Chourio is hitting .276 and represents the kind of contact-plus-speed threat that can unravel a pitcher's rhythm early. Jake Bauers leads the Brewers with 20 home runs — one more than Clemens — and Brice Turang has quietly put together a strong RBI season at 72, which is the kind of run-production that wins division races. The Brewers don't have a glaring weakness in this lineup, and that's a problem for Bradley. Our model doesn't have a validated read on this one tonight, so rather than lean on a number, lean on the standings: Milwaukee is the class of this matchup, and the Twins will need a near-perfect performance to leave Wisconsin with a win.