The Minnesota Twins (38-31) host the Cleveland Guardians (35-28) on Wednesday in the second meeting of a three-game set at Target Field. Minnesota is 2-4 in its last six outings while Cleveland comes in hot with seven wins in its last eight games. Can the visitors take two straight over Minnesota? Find out in our Guardians vs Twins prediction.
Guardians vs Twins Odds & Analysis
Sportsbook Odds
The Twins opened as the home favorite at -175 on the moneyline with the Guardians going off at +130. The total was set at 8.5 runs with the OVER going 4-2 in the last six meetings between the two clubs. Minnesota is 13-6 in the last 19 matchups against Cleveland at Target Field – a big reason why the hosts have the edge in our Guardians vs Twins prediction.
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- Best Spread-158+138CLE+1.5-1.5MIN
- Best Moneyline+138-149CLEMIN
- Best Total-110-110Over88Under
Starting Pitchers
Sonny Gray (3-1) will look to keep the momentum rolling as he’s strung together a few excellent starts. He threw five scoreless innings against the Seattle Mariners his last time out on June 15, scattering three hits in a no-decision. Gray has allowed just one earned run in total over his last three starts while averaging six innings per outing. He sports a 2.09 ERA and a 0.93 WHIP over 38.2 innings this season.
Triston McKenzie (4-5) gets the call for Cleveland as he too looks to build off a solid showing last time out. The right-hander picked up the win against the Colorado Rockies on June 16 after allowing seven hits and just one earned run over six innings. McKenzie has a 2.96 ERA and a 0.93 WHIP in 70 innings.
Guardians Stay Hot With Extra-Innings Win
The Guardians picked up a 6-5 extra-innings win in the series opener thanks to a late comeback. With the Twins up 5-3 in the eighth, Franmil Reyes hit a two-run homer to tie the game. In the top of the 11th, Andres Gimenez hit an RBI single to put Cleveland up and Emmanuel Clase closed out the contest to earn the save.
Cleveland has been red-hot lately, thanks primarily to some stingy pitching and defense. The Guardians have allowed just 3.63 runs per game over their last eight outings while winning seven of those matchups. Pitching has been a strength for Cleveland all season as the club sits seventh in the majors in runs allowed per game (4.00) and sixth in ERA (3.58).
Twins Lose Division Lead For First Time Since April
Luis Arraez had a three-run homer and Alex Kirilloff knocked in a two-run double but the Twins blew a late lead to drop the first game of the series to the Guardians. Griffin Jax, who came in for the 11th inning, took his first loss of the year to fall to 4-1.
With the win, Cleveland jumped past Minnesota to take over first place in the AL Central. The Twins had held the top spot in the division nearly all season long – you have to go all the way back to April 23 to see a different leader, when the Guardians were on top by a half-game.
Guardians vs Twins Pick & Insights
Guardians: Keys To Victory
The Guardians are firing on all cylinders and winning games in a variety of ways. We saw them manufacture a late comeback on Tuesday to beat the Twins to win yet another close game, which has been a habit of theirs recently. Jose Ramirez, who just returned from a thumb injury, leads the club with 16 home runs and 62 RBIs – look for him to continue a scorching-hot month of June.
Twins: Keys To Victory
The Twins will look to Gray to get them back on track as the right-hander has been excellent in his eight starts this season. Gray has not allowed more than two runs in any game this season and has only surrendered more than four hits on one occasion. If Minnesota’s starter gives them another quality start, the Twins should even up the series.
MLB Computer Pick: OVER 8.5
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