The Minnesota Twins and Guardians will look to play a better brand of baseball when they open their four-game series on Monday in Cleveland.

The Twins were taken to task during the rubber match of their three-game series against the Chicago Cubs on Sunday, dropping a 10-1 decision.

“This game got out of hand early and stayed out of hand, and we weren’t able to do anything,” Minnesota manager Derek Shelton said. “So we just flush it and move on to the next series.”

Luke Keaschall, who was playing his eighth major-league game in center field, misplayed a ball, resulting in three runs crossing the plate. That turned a three-run deficit into a six-run hole.

“I wanted to catch it,” Keaschall said, per the St. Paul Pioneer Press. “I got a good read on it, but then it started to die a little bit. I tried to let up, got caught in between and just tried to get my body in front of it. It bounced to my left and got by me.”

Keaschall and Minnesota will look to atone on Monday against Cleveland. The Twins have won four of the six meetings between the teams this season.

Like Minnesota, Cleveland committed many costly miscues in its 7-1 setback to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday. Gabriel Arias and Patrick Bailey miscommunicated on a pickoff attempt, and the former also failed to retag second base, which resulted in one of five outs on the bases for Cleveland.

“We’re a young team and we’re going to make mistakes,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “We’ve talked about it the whole year. That’s where our coaches and I need to step up and teach more. We need to get our players better.”

Steven Kwan had two singles, giving him 11 hits during his six-game hitting streak. He is just 3-for-18 in six games this season against Minnesota

The series opener features a battle of right-handers, as All-Star Joe Ryan (6-5, 2.85 ERA) of the Twins will square off against Tanner Bibee (3-9, 3.90) of the Guardians.

Ryan struck out a pair of batters during one scoreless inning of work in the All-Star Game on Tuesday.

He also was dominant leading into that game, going 2-2 with a 1.93 ERA after allowing six earned runs with 36 strikeouts over his previous five outings (28 innings).

Ryan, 30, allowed one run on two hits with five strikeouts in six innings in his one appearance against Cleveland this season. He received a no-decision in that contest on May 9, however he is 3-5 with a 2.83 ERA in 13 career appearances (12 starts) versus the Guardians.

Bibee enjoyed a rare positive moment in his last outing, yielding one run on five hits in 6 2/3 innings of a 4-1 victory over the Miami Marlins on July 11. That victory was his first in nearly one month.

He pitched well in his lone appearance against both Ryan and Minnesota this season. He permitted one run on one hit and struck out nine in six innings of a no-decision.

Bibee, 27, is 2-0 with a 2.83 ERA in 10 career appearances (all starts) versus the Twins.

–Field Level Media

The Boston Red Sox started their 13-game win streak on the road before the All-Star break, but home cooking has helped to fuel it.

After completing a four-game sweep of the American League East-leading Tampa Bay Rays, the Red Sox look to keep the good times rolling when they welcome the Baltimore Orioles — who have won seven in a row themselves — into Boston for the start of a three-game series on Monday night.

“I feel like we’ve flipped the script,” Boston third baseman Caleb Durbin said.

The current heater has Boston two games above the .500 mark for the first time since a win on Opening Day. Now the team is two games short of the club record of 15 straight set in 1946.

“You’re winning games against clubs that have a chance to be in the playoffs. That’s important,” Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy said. “It’s important that we’re playing this way out of the All-Star break. It’s important that we’re doing it at home. All those things matter.”

Another thing that matters? The return of Willson Contreras.

Contreras’ two-run homer in the fifth inning on Sunday gave the Red Sox a 6-1 lead, which proved to be the final score, in support of another quality start from Sonny Gray. It was the first baseman’s second round-tripper in three games since returning from a suspension and his fourth in seven games since July 4.

The Red Sox hand the ball to Payton Tolle (5-6, 3.11 ERA) for his first start since the All-Star break after being limited to 3 2/3 innings last Sunday against the New York Mets in an effort to manage his workload. The 23-year-old was still effective, striking out seven and allowing just one run on three hits in 3 2/3 innings.

Tolle has allowed just one run or fewer in three of his last four starts, while one of his three shutout performances this season came in his first career start against Baltimore on June 3, as he limited the Orioles to seven hits over six innings and struck out five.

Though the Orioles remain two games below .500 (49-51) on the season, they continued their winning ways with a 5-2 Sunday triumph and a three-game road sweep over the Houston Astros.

Baltimore managed just six hits, including a pair from Dylan Beavers, but seven walks and four hit batters helped set its offense in motion. Gunnar Henderson’s steal of home on a double steal also highlighted the effort.

“(Our offense just wants to) continue to put pressure on defenses,” Henderson said. “If you do that over the course of nine innings, you’re bound to break through.”

The Orioles did just that in the fifth, thanks to a two-run single by Leody Taveras.

As his team arrives in Boston, Orioles manager Craig Albernaz will be watching the status of catcher Samuel Basallo, who exited Sunday’s game with right shoulder discomfort during an at-bat in the second inning.

“It’s been a lingering thing, and obviously, he just aggravated it,” said Albernaz, who also noted that All-Star Adley Rutschman was experiencing left discomfort before the game.

Baltimore looks to continue its recent momentum with Shane Baz (4-9, 4.19) on the mound, searching for his first win since June 12. The righty has fanned nine batters in two of his five outings since then, including a 4 2/3-inning start last Sunday against the Kansas City Royals.

The rotation initially had Kyle Bradish scheduled to make the Monday start before he was pushed back a day. Bradish signed a five-year contract extension on Saturday, becoming the highest-paid pitcher in Orioles history.

Baz is 4-1 with a 2.63 ERA in six career starts against the Red Sox. He was a winner in Boston in that June 2 outing, pitching seven innings of two-run ball with six strikeouts.

–Field Level Media

The visiting San Diego Padres will try to cool off the Atlanta Braves’ revived offense when they open a four-game series on Monday.

The Braves, fresh off a series win against Texas, have scored at least five runs in nine straight home games dating back to July 1, its longest stretch since a 10-game streak in June 2019. Atlanta scored a combined 29 runs in taking two-of-three from the Rangers over the weekend, including Sunday’s 8-5 win.

The Padres, who swept a three-game series against Atlanta in June, avoided being swept at Kansas City on Sunday by beating the Royals 19-2. The win pulled San Diego to within one game of .500.

“This close to a series win, which is what our goal is anytime we play somebody,” San Diego manager Craig Stammen said. “Now it’s on to the Braves and try to win that series somehow against a good team, which we played good against at home. Hopefully we can keep those good feelings going against them and play our best baseball.”

Heating up for Atlanta are catcher Drake Baldwin and third baseman Austin Riley.

Baldwin was 5-for-5 on Sunday – becoming the first Atlanta catcher with a five-hit game since Johnny Estrada in 2004 — and was 10-for-14 with three homers and eight RBIs in the Texas series.

“After a couple of days off, coming back and I was kind of a little recharged,” Baldwin said. “It’s nice to see that we’re firing on all cylinders with the offense, so it’s just kind of carrying that momentum forward.”

Riley, who had gone 4-for-21 on the road trip prior to the All-Star Game, was 6-for-12 with three homers, five RBIs and five runs scored in the Texas series. He hit two homers and drove in four runs in the series finale, reaching four homers this month after he didn’t have any in June.

“The first half beat me up pretty good,” Riley said. “Just needed to clear my head.”

The starting pitchers for the series opener will be Atlanta right-hander Bryce Elder (5-6, 4.12 ERA) vs. San Diego southpaw JP Sears (2-2, 5.03).

Sears will be making his fifth start of the season. In his last outing on July 10 against Toronto, he pitched 4 1/3 innings and allowed three runs on six hits and one walk, striking out three.

Sears has made four career starts against the Braves, going 1-1 with a 3.80 ERA. He beat the Braves on June 24 in San Diego after throwing 5 2/3 innings and allowing two runs in a 5-2 victory.

Elder has struggled of late. He was 5-3 with a 2.66 ERA through June 7, but over the last four starts has gone 0-3 with an 11.00 ERA. In his last outing on July 9 against Pittsburgh, he allowed four runs (three earned) in four innings. He has worked exactly four innings in three of the last four starts after throwing six-plus in 10 of his first 14.

Elder has had no luck against the Padres. In two career starts, he’s 0-2 with a 9.82 ERA, although he has not faced them since 2024.

San Diego’s Fernando Tatis Jr. was 2-for-5 with four RBIs on Sunday. He has reached base safely in 18 of his last 19 road games and is hitting .333 (26-for-78) with 15 RBIs during that stretch.

Ty France homered twice on Sunday and is batting .417 (5-for-12) with two doubles, three homers and six RBIs since the break.

–Field Level Media