Jax expected to start for the Twins against Cubs

Minnesota Twins (65-85, fifth in the AL Central) vs. Chicago Cubs (67-83, fourth in the NL Central)

Chicago; Tuesday, 7:40 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Twins: Griffin Jax (3-4, 6.65 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, 54 strikeouts) Cubs: Alec Mills (6-6, 4.16 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 78 strikeouts)

LINE: Cubs -112, Twins -105; over/under is even

BOTTOM LINE: Chicago and Minnesota will meet on Tuesday.

The Cubs are 39-36 on their home turf. The Chicago pitching staff averages 8.7 strikeouts per nine innings, Kyle Hendricks leads them with a mark of 6.5.

The Twins are 31-45 on the road. Minnesota's lineup has 212 home runs this season, Jorge Polanco leads them with 31 homers.

The Cubs won the last meeting 3-0. Justin Steele secured his third victory and Frank Schwindel went 1-for-4 with a home run and three RBI for Chicago. Joe Ryan registered his first loss for Minnesota.

TOP PERFORMERS: Ian Happ leads the Cubs with 23 home runs and is slugging .431.

Polanco leads the Twins with 66 extra base hits and is batting .273.

LAST 10 GAMES: Cubs: 3-7, .236 batting average, 6.88 ERA, outscored by 24 runs

Twins: 3-7, .207 batting average, 4.59 ERA, outscored by eight runs

INJURIES: Cubs: Brad Wieck: (heart), Kohl Stewart: (elbow), Manuel Rodriguez: (shoulder), Jonathan Holder: (shoulder), Jason Heyward: (concussion), Michael Hermosillo: (forearm), Nick Madrigal: (hamstring), Jose Lobaton: (shoulder), P.J. Higgins: (forearm).

Twins: Lewis Thorpe: (shoulder), Cody Stashak: (back), Devin Smeltzer: (elbow), Taylor Rogers: (finger), Kenta Maeda: (forearm), John Gant: (abdomen), Randy Dobnak: (finger), Edwar Colina: (elbow), Rob Refsnyder: (elbow), Alex Kirilloff: (wrist), Kyle Garlick: (hernia).

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