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After an awesome first couple of months of the season, the Cleveland Indians now find themselves down at second place in the AL Central thanks to a streak by the Chicago White Sox and a bit of a losing streak on their own side. The Indians get a three game home series against the last place Minnesota Twins, but they are catching the Twins on a bit of a high.
Minnesota is coming off a three game sweep of the Oakland A's that featured some uncharacteristically solid pitching and several come from behind wins, two things that the Twins hadn't done all that well this year up until that series.
Cleveland's pitching has been absolutely awful during their slide of five losses in their last six games. Derek Lowe's last game in particular was disastrous with eight runs allowed in the Indians 14-7 loss against the White Sox. He has had results against the Twins though and will hope to emulate his last outing -- a 5-0 complete game shutout -- when he takes the mound on Friday.
Carl Pavano will start for the Twins. It's been a poor year for Pavano, with a 2-4 record and a 5.46 ERA.
The game will be at Progressive Field at 7:05 p.m. ET.
For more on the Cleveland Indians, head over to Let's Go Tribe. More on the Minnesota Twins can be found over at Twinkie Town. If you want more on the world of baseball, head over to Baseball Nation.