Coming off of snapping an 18-game playoff losing streak to sweep the Toronto Blue Jays in the Wild Card round, the Minnesota Twins look to snap the Houston Astros streak of making six-straight American League Championship Series and it starts with Game One in Houston on Saturday.
Minnesota Twins vs. Houston Astros (-155, 7.5)
Justin Verlander gets the start on the mound for the Astros, who has seen a dip in his strikeouts this season with 7.7 strikeouts per nine innings, his lowest mark since 2008, to go with a 3.22 ERA and 3.85 fielding independent.
The Twins will look to barrel Verlander up with a lineup that since September 1 leads the league in runs per game, averaging exactly six runs per game between the regular season and their two postseason games.
As for the Twins pitching situation, it will be Bailey Ober getting the start, who’s 9.1 strikeouts and 1.8 walks per nine innings are impressive to go with a 3.43 ERA, but also has a 3.93 fielding independent because he does allow a lot of hard contact with 1.5 home runs per nine innings surrendered.
Ober’s task is to shut down the highest scoring lineup in the American League since June, averaging over 5.4 runs per game with 1.53 home runs per game, a mark only exceeded by the Atlanta Braves.
The Twins bullpen is also a concern as their bullpen was 17th in the league in ERA from the beginning of July until the end of the regular season while the Astros were sixth in bullpen ERA in that span.
Also since the start of July though, the Twins lead the American League in home runs in that span with having former No. 1 draft pick Royce Lewis healthy for much of the surge and with the way both lineups are hitting, game one sets up to be a hard hitting showdown.
The Play: Twins vs. Astros Over 7.5
