The Twins and Guardians split their four-game set in Minnesota this weekend, leaving things status quo in what should be a great race in the AL Central (more details and odds at the bottom of this post).
On Sunday afternoon, Byron Buxton ($4,800; 30 FPTS) did his part for Minnesota, smashing a pair of home runs that accounted for all three runs the Twins managed to score. Buxton was a great play in Sunday afternoon’s $222K Bat Flip on DraftKings, where he had just 2.8% ownership. He now has 16 home runs on the season after this blast to LF in the eighth inning:
After Buxton’s second blast got the Twins within two runs, Minnesota loaded the bases with nobody out in the ninth against Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase ($4,000; 2.45 FPTS). They couldn’t get it done, though, as Cease fanned Willi Castro ($4,600; 3 FPTS) on an amazing pitch to preserve the win.
The Guardians built their lead thanks to a strong start from Tanner Bibee ($9,200; 21.15 FPTS) and home runs from Jose Ramirez ($6,100; 17 FPTS) and David Fry ($3,700; 16 FPTS).
As they did coming into the series, the Guardians have a 2 1/2 game lead over the Twins in the AL Central. Cleveland is -195 to win the division while the Twins are +250. However, Minnesota is still -700 to make the playoffs and currently hold the second of three Wild Card spots by 1/2 game over the Royals and 3 1/2 games over the Red Sox. Next up for these teams, the Guardians are home for a three-game set against the Cubs while the Twins host the Royals in a critical three-game set that could dramatically impact both teams’ playoff positioning.
All odds provided by DraftKings Sportsbook and all odds subject to change.
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