The Minnesota Twins and the Chicago White Sox continue their critical three-game weekend series in the Windy City on Saturday. Both teams trail the front-running Guardians for the top spot in the AL Central Division with just over a month to go in the season. On the mound in game two of this series will be a pair of right-handers as Tyler Mahle (6-7, 4.17) of the Twins takes on Dylan Cease (12-6, 2.27) of the White Sox. First pitch is scheduled for 7:15pm EST.
The Minnesota Twins are in the midst of the home stretch of a season in which they held the division lead for much of the season, only to be overtaken after slumping since the all-star break. The Twins committed to winning both in the offseason by acquiring starting pitcher Sonny Gray and SS Carlos Correa and at the trade deadline by acquiring closer Jorge Lopez as well as tonight's starting pitcher Tyler Mahle. The Twins come into this series having won five out of their last six games. In Friday night's series opener, the Twins blew a chance to get back into first-place after dropping a 4-3 decision to the White Sox.
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The Twins come into this series just a game out of first place in the AL Central and just three games out of the third and final wildcard spot in the American League. After going all in to make a playoff push this year, anything less than an October appearance will be considered a colossal failure. Tyler Mahle will take his turn on the mound on Saturday night and just his presence is meaningful for the Twins considering he left his last start after just 2.1 innings with an arm issue. All tests came back negative and Mahle is once again ready to take his turn. Since being traded to the Twins from the hapless Reds, Mahle has gone 1-0 in three starts with an ERA of 2.51 while allowing eight hits in fourteen innings pitched.