Twins vs. Tigers Pick
Can the Minnesota Twins complete a weekend sweep of the Detroit Tigers when the two AL Central foes meet up this afternoon at 12:10PM ET?
According to oddsmakers at Bovada.lv, Minnesota is favored on the road, as the Twins are getting odds of -180 to win, while the Tigers are listed with a money line of +165 to prevail. The over/under total for the contest is listed at 10 runs.
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The pitching matchup today has Jose Berrios (12-8, 3.94 ERA) on the mound for the Twins to face Buck Farmer (4-4, 7.11) of the Tigers. Berrios has been struggling in the second half of the season. He is coming off a 3-run effort over 3.1 innings against the Yankees. Berrios has 132 strikeouts this season with 46 walks and a 1.22 WHIP. Farmer has been pretty bad, allowing at least four runs in three of his last four starts. Farmer has 41 strikeouts with 13 walks this season and a 1.47 WHIP.
The Twins have won the first three games in this series, picking up a 12-1 win on Thursday, a 7-3 win on Friday and a 10-4 win on Saturday. Minnesota is now 81-74 overall and 42-35 on the road. Detroit is 62-93 overall and 34-46 at home.
The Tigers were on their way to a win on Saturday, leading 3-1 after six innings, but the Detroit bullpen gave up nine runs over the seventh and eighth innings, including eight in the eighth. Daniel Stumpf gave up three without recording an out. The blow up allowed Ervin Santana to pick up a win. He went seven innings and allowed three runs to earn his 16th win of the year. Robbie Grossman and Zack Granite each drove in three runs to lead Detroit while Efren Navarro had two hits and two RBI for the Tigers.
I told you to go with the Tigers on Saturday because I liked the pitching matchup. I was right about the matchup, but forgot that the Tigers’ bullpen can blow up any situation. I’ve learned my lesson. While Berrios was lit up for six runs in 3.1 innings in his only start against the Tigers this year, this isn’t the same team he is facing today. The Tigers don’t have a lineup to do that kind of damage today. Buck Farmer is also a disaster on the mound and his bullpen clearly isn’t much better.
MLB DAILY PREDICTION: MINNESOTA TWINS -180