The Oakland Athletics and Minnesota Twins clash Thursday in game 3 of an MLB series at Target Field. Let’s preview this game and give out a pick and prediction.

Oakland Athletics Betting Preview

The Athletics need a win after losing 8 of their last 10 games. The Athletics have the worst record in MLB. The Athletics pitching staff is 29th in ERA (5.52), 29th in WHIP (1.53) and 30th in quality starts (30). The Athletics offense is 30th in runs per game (3.62), 30th in batting average (.224) and 20th in homers (167). Esteury Ruiz leads the Athletics with 112 hits and 46 RBI, while Brent Rooker and Ryan Noda have combined for 201 hits and 120 RBI. Luis Medina gets the ball, and he is 3-10 with a 5.64 ERA and 102 strikeouts this season. This will be Medina’s first career game against the Twins.

Oakland Athletics Team Facts

The Athletics have lost each of their last 13 day games against American League opponents following a road loss.
The Athletics have failed to cover the run line each of their last six games against teams that held a winning record.
The Athletics have lost the first inning in each of their last four road games against AL Central opponents.
The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Athletics’ last four day games.
The Athletics have trailed after 3 innings in each of their last six games against American League opponents that held a winning record.

Minnesota Twins Betting Preview

The Twins look to build on their 3-game winning streak. The Twins already clinched the AL Central. The Twins pitching staff is 6th in ERA (3.87), 4th in WHIP (1.20) and 1st in quality starts (75). The Twins offense is 10th in runs per game (4.77), 21st in batting average (.243) and 5th in homers (226). Carlos Correa leads the Twins with 118 hits and 65 RBI, while Max Kepler and Donovan Solano have combined for 218 hits and 100 RBI. Sonny Gray gets the ball, and he is 8-8 with a 2.80 ERA and 179 strikeouts this season. Gray is 1-1 with a 4.66 ERA and 17 strikeouts in his career against the Athletics.

Minnesota Twins Team Facts

The favorites have won each of the last 11 games between the Athletics and Twins.
The Twins have failed to cover the run line in nine of their last 10 day games against AL West opponents following a home win.
The Twins have led after 3 innings in each of their last three games against the Athletics at Target Field.
The Twins have trailed after 5 innings in each of their last five day games at Target Field against AL West opponents.
The Twins have led after 7 innings in each of their last five day games against the Athletics.

Matchup/League Facts

The Minnesota Twins rank 30th in the league for strikeouts against this season (1614).
The Minnesota Twins rank 1st in the league for strikeouts this season (1509).
The Oakland Athletics rank 30th in the league for runs scored this season (572).
The Oakland Athletics rank 30th in the league for hits this season (1161).

Randy’s Pick

Like Ive said all season, I’m not in the business of backing the Athletics, the worst team in the league and a team that doesn’t make bettors money. Luis Medina isn’t changing that with his 5.64 ERA and 1.54 WHIP. The Twins keep piling up the wins despite already clinching a division, and Sonny Gray is an all star this year with a 2.80 ERA and 1.15 WHIP. Gray has a 2.69 ERA and .238 allowed batting average at home. The home team should roll. Give me the Twins and the RL for max betting value.