The Twins will open up a short two game series against the Cleveland Indians on Monday night at the dome. The Twins will be fortunate enough to miss C.C. Sabathia by one day and they’ll have Johan Santana going for them on Tuesday.

Cleveland’s last 6

Date	Opponent	Outcome	Score
Apr. 17	Yankees	L	10-3
Apr. 18	Yankees	L	9-2
Apr. 19	Yankees	L	8-6
Apr. 20	Devil Rays	W	4-3
Apr. 21	Devil Rays	L	6-5
Apr. 22	Devil Rays	W	6-4

Alex Rodriguez drove in 8 runs to help the Yankees sweep the Indians, but Cleveland recovered with a series win (thought not real convincing) over the weekend. At least they didn’t drop a series to KC.

Pitching matchups

• Monday: Jeremy Sowers (0-1, 5.17) vs. Carlos Silva (1-1, 2.00)
• Tuesday: Fausto Carmona (0-1, 6.97) vs, Johan Santana (3-1, 3.00)

The numbers seem stacked in favor of the Twins, but consider the small sample size. I’m convinced that Sowers can be a better pitcher than Silva. Cleveland’s offense hasn’t exactly been on fire this year, but I think this will be the best offense that Silva has faced thus far. On Tuesday the Twins have an obvious advantage with Santana.

The lineup

• Victor Martinez, C: Martinez has been suffering from a strained left quad and been splitting playing time with Kelly Shoppach. Victor is one of the better hitting catchers in baseball, though his defense leaves much to be desired.
• Ryan Garko, 1B: Casey Blake has also seen some starts at first base.
• Josh Barfield, 2B: Barfield had a great rookie year last year, but has gotten off to a slow start this year.
• Andy Marte, 3B: The Indians have high hopes for Marte, but he had yet to show much production at the plate.
• Jhonny Peralta, SS: After a breakout 2005, Peralta disappointed in 2006 seeing his HR count drop from 24 to 13 and his OPS drop from .886 to .708. If he’s going to turn things around this year, he has yet to show it.
• David Delluci, LF: Delluci left the game on Saturday and is day-to-day, so I’m not sure if we’ll see him in the series. Jason Michaels would play in his place.
• Grady Sizemore, CF: At age 24, he can best be described as the Joe Mauer of Cleveland (in a young, future star type of way). He belted 28 homers and posted a .908 OPS in 2006.
• Casey Blake, RF: Blake has put together a few good years since leaving the Twins organization in 2003. He’s off to a slow start this season, though.
• Travis Hafner, DH: The North Dakota native can, at times, be the most dangerous hitter in baseball. He hit 42 homers and batted .308 before going down with injury early last September. He’s one of the few Indians who’s off to a strong start at the plate this year.

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