The Detroit Tigers (65-48) host the Minnesota Twins (52-59) at 6:40 p.m. EST on Monday afternoon. This matchup looks prime for the Tigers’ taking after the Twins traded away what felt like half the roster at last week’s Trade Deadline, but anything can happen on the diamond on any given night.
Here’s a Tigers vs. Twins prediction and pick on DraftKings Sportsbook for Monday’s contest.
Tigers vs. Twins prediction, preview
To much surprise, the Tigers showed some vulnerability after dropping two of three games to the Philadelphia Phillies over the weekend as their rough patch continues. Detroit’s record sits at just 6-10 since the All-Star Game and they’ve won just a single series since then. This series looks like a chance to hit the reset button against a Minnesota team with a drastically different lineup than deployed prior to the Trade Deadline. The Twins are 1-2 since shipping out much of their proven talent and just 5-10 since the ASG, and they haven’t won a series since July 12.
The Tigers don’t exactly excel hitting for average to begin with, but they’re batting just .232 over their last 16 games which ranks 24th among all teams. An even less-encouraging stat is their .273 OBP which places them dead-last in the MLB over the same sample, and they’re 22nd in runs over that time. The Twins haven’t fared any better though with 60 runs to their opponents’ 61 across the post-ASG sample, and they’ve scored just 10 runs across their last three games with the new lineup. They’ll likely have a tough time against the Tigers’ pitching, and there’s far more star power in Detroit’s lineup as well.
Casey Mize (3.43 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 84 SO) takes the mound for the home team tonight against Twins reliever Travis Adams (8.03 ERA, 1.62 WHIP, nine SO) in his first MLB start.
Tigers vs. Twins pick, best bet
The Tigers enter this afternoon with -196 odds to win on the Moneyline while the Twins are +160 to win outright. The run total sits at 8.5.
There’s no question the Tigers have played poorly as of late, but they absolutely find themselves in a position to turn thing around in this series against a division rival. Yes, they’re struggling, but Minnesota shipped out most of their top-level talent last week and weren’t in particularly good form to begin with beforehand. Mize brings experience and solid numbers to the mound that Adams doesn’t have (yet), but Detroit’s batting order needs to wake up in this one.
Despite the struggles the Tigers and Mize himself have experienced lately, the table is set for them to succeed this evening. If they can’t cover against this Twins squad, there may be some bigger problems at hand the team will need to address.
Best bet: DET Tigers -1.5 (+112)
Click the odds on this bet to tail!
