The Twins are having a solid start to the season, but it’s being overshadowed since they’re still third in the AL Central. Minnesota is two-faced; it’s excellent at home but underwhelming on the road.
Meanwhile, the Athletics are just … bad. Fans have become accustomed to this and there are far worse teams, so the Athletics fly under the radar.
The two teams match up on Tuesday, June 3 in the second game of a three-game series. The Twins won the first game 10-4 on the road.
Minnesota is -205 on the moneyline for tonight’s action. The game total is set at over/under 10 runs, and the Athletics are +170 underdogs on DraftKings Sportsbook.
Here’s my prediction and pick for Tuesday’s Athletics vs. Twins matchup.
Athletics vs. Twins prediction
One team is fighting for playoff positioning, while the other is just existing. Minnesota is seven games back from the AL Central lead thanks to a dominant start from the Tigers. The Athletics, however, are nowhere near a playoff berth, likely years away from relevance.
That said, baseball is unpredictable, especially in the regular season. If the better team won every game, there would be a lot of 140-win seasons throughout history. That’s obviously not the case as the Athletics have wins against the Dodgers, Yankees, Mets and Padres this year.
Still, it’s an uphill battle for the Athletics, who will be starting Grant Holman. The 25-year-old is making his first career start after pitching 19 innings of relief with a 4.74 ERA this season. He’ll be at home, which normally should provide some comfort but the Athletics recently moved their home stadium to Sacramento amid a franchise relocation.
The Twins are, however, a poor road team, owning a 14-19 record. Their previous struggles shouldn’t matter too much since Pablo Lopez is on the mound. Lopez has a 2.75 ERA through 55.2 innings this season.
Athletics vs. Twins pick, best bet
Although an upset is always fun, it’s hard to bet on the Athletics given the moneyline odds. They’re +170 with a pitcher that’s never started a MLB game before. There needs to be more juice for me to take a shot on the Athletics.
Of course, this means there also isn’t enough value to pick the Twins moneyline. At -205, there’s too much risk for such little reward. Instead, the Twins’ spread is intriguing at -1.5 with -130 odds.
Minnesota won the first game of the series 10-4 and now has Lopez on the mound for the second game. Tonight should be another round of good offense backed by strong pitching. Furthermore, the Twins have won by at least two runs in four of their last five victories.