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Indians Vs. Twins: Derek Lowe Could Tie For MLB Lead With Sixth Win

Coming off a dramatic, top-of-the-ninth win Monday, the Cleveland Indians look to make it back-to-back W's over the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday afternoon.

And the Indians have the right guy pitching to make it happen.

Derek Lowe will take the hill for the Tribe. The 38-year-old righty enters the game with a 2.47 ERA and a 5-1 record. A win Tuesday would tie him with Tampa Bay's James Shields and St. Louis' Lance Lynn for the most wins in the majors. Neither Shields nor Lynn pitches Tuesday.

Lowe does have some odd peripheral stats for someone who hasn't lost since April 18. He has a 1.51 WHIP -- the same as last season, when he had a 5.05 ERA -- and has struck out just 13 batters in 43.2 innings, the same number that he's walked. Oh, and opponents are hitting .303 against him

Nonetheless, he has given up just five earned runs in his last four starts.

The Twins will counter with Jason Marquis, who is 2-2 with a 6.26 ERA. Bad as that is, four Twins regulars have higher ERAs.

Cleveland is still two games up on the second-place Detroit Tigers in the AL Central.

First pitch is scheduled for 1:10 Eastern.

For more on the Cleveland Indians, check out Let's Go Tribe. You can also head over to SB Nation's main MLB hub at Baseball Nation.

Photographs by spatulated, Triple Tri, and chrischappelear used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.