Twins and Yankees meet to decide series winner

New York Yankees (40-16, first in the AL East) vs. Minnesota Twins (33-25, first in the AL Central)

Minneapolis; Thursday, 7:40 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Yankees: Gerrit Cole (5-1, 2.78 ERA, .94 WHIP, 81 strikeouts); Twins: Dylan Bundy (3-3, 5.57 ERA, 1.45 WHIP, 36 strikeouts)

LINE: Yankees -205, Twins +173; over/under is 8 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Minnesota Twins and New York Yankees meet on Thursday with the winner claiming the three-game series.

Minnesota is 33-25 overall and 18-12 at home. Twins hitters are batting a collective .250, which ranks second in the AL.

New York has a 40-16 record overall and a 17-9 record on the road. The Yankees are 20-3 in games when they hit at least two home runs.

Thursday's game is the third time these teams square off this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Luis Arraez has a home run, 24 walks and 13 RBI while hitting .361 for the Twins. Gio Urshela is 11-for-29 with four doubles, a home run and four RBI over the past 10 games.

Anthony Rizzo has 10 doubles, a triple, 14 home runs and 38 RBI while hitting .209 for the Yankees. Aaron Judge is 13-for-39 with five home runs over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Twins: 4-6, .250 batting average, 5.29 ERA, outscored by six runs

Yankees: 7-3, .274 batting average, 2.66 ERA, outscored opponents by 26 runs

INJURIES: Twins: Luis Arraez: day-to-day (undisclosed), Kyle Garlick: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Bailey Ober: 15-Day IL (groin), Sonny Gray: 15-Day IL (pectoral), Royce Lewis: 10-Day IL (knee), Danny Coulombe: 15-Day IL (hip), Joe Ryan: 10-Day IL (covid-19), Cody Stashak: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Josh Winder: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Miguel Sano: 60-Day IL (knee), Chris Paddack: 60-Day IL (elbow), Jhon Romero: 60-Day IL (biceps), Jorge Alcala: 60-Day IL (elbow), Randy Dobnak: 60-Day IL (finger), Kenta Maeda: 60-Day IL (elbow)

Yankees: Chad Green: 60-Day IL (elbow), Jonathan Loaisiga: 15-Day IL (right shoulder), Aroldis Chapman: 15-Day IL (achilles), Ben Rortvedt: 60-Day IL (oblique), Stephen Ridings: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Domingo German: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Zack Britton: 60-Day IL (elbow)

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.