The Cleveland Guardians look to snap a four-game losing streak when they close out their three-game series against the AL Central leading Minnesota Twins in the finale Wednesday afternoon at Progressive Field in Cleveland Ohio. They toss out the first pitch at 1:10 pm as the Guardians look to avoid the three-game sweep with a win. The Twins are -122 in Wednesday's finale. 

The Twins (73-66) have taken the first two of three against the Guardians in what was supposed to be an important series for both teams. But after Tuesday's 8-3 win, the Twins will not only look for the three-game sweep Wednesday afternoon, but they will look to build upon their AL Central lead over Cleveland. Minnesota currently leads the Twins by seven games, and that is a nice cushion heading down the stretch as this is the final time the two teams will meet this season. 

On offense, the Twins are led by right fielder Max Kepler who has smacked 21 home runs as a right fielder, which is tied for the team lead with veteran slugger Joey Gallo who has played during his first season with Minnesota. He has driven in 40 runs on 50 hits and although his batting average is poor at .177 he has provided the Twins with veteran leadership. 

They will toss out Joe Ryan who has a record of 10-8 to go along with an ERA of 4.20. 

The Guardians (66-73) really had a solid chance to make up some ground on the Twins but their pitching has picked the worst time of the season to get ripped apart. In Monday's loss to the Twins, Cleveland gave up 20 runs on 20 hits, including a grand slam to Royce Lewis who drove in six runs in the rout. 

They followed that poor effort from the mound by allowing eight runs in Tuesday's loss. Cleveland really now has their backs against the wall because it will be tough to catch the Twins and try to overtake them and win the division and the wild card seems very unrealistic as it stands. 

The Guardians are 11 games back of the wildcard, so they are in essence really just playing out the string and looking to perhaps ruin someone's season. They will see the Texas Rangers and Baltimore Orioles before the season ends and maybe they can pick off one of those teams. Baltimore is battling the Tampa Bay Rays for first place in the AL East, while the Rangers are in a dog fight with the Seattle Mariners and the defending champs in the Houston Astros to see who will reign supreme in the AL West. 

Tough to be on a team that has basically called it a day and we just do not trust the Guardians going forward. Gavin Williams will get the start for Cleveland as he takes a poor 1-5 mark into the contest to go along with an ERA of 3.46. He is 0-3 in his last five starts. 

The Guardians are 3-2 in their last five games and 3-2 in their last five games against the spread. They are also 37-31 in their road games against the number and the totals have gone over in two of their last five games and 23 of their last 69 games at home. The Twins are 3-2 in their last five games and 4-1 in their last five games against the spread. They are 35-34 in their road games against the spread and the totals have gone over in three of their last five games.,