Kansas City Royals vs. Minnesota Twins – 8/21/20 MLB Pick, Odds, and Prediction

The Minnesota Twins and the Kansas City Royals meet Friday in MLB action from Kauffman Stadium. 

The Twins are coming out of a series versus the Brewers this week. Minnesota split the first two games of that set 4-3 (win) and 9-3 (loss). In the Thursday rubber match, the Twins got hot in the late innings and powered to a 7-1 victory. As for the Royals, they played the Reds. We had a Wednesday doubleheader in that matchup after an early-week postponement, and Kansas City split those games 4-0 (win) and 5-0 (loss). Check back all season long for free MLB picks and MLB predictions at Sports Chat Place. 

The Twins out-hit Milwaukee 13-5 on Thursday. Five different Twins players had multiple hits, and Nelson Cruz socked a two-run homer. Jose Berrios had a nice outing in the win with 6.0 innings, one hit, one walk and nine strikeouts. 

For the Friday starting role, the Twins will go with Jake Odorizzi. Across two starts without a decision so far this season, Odorizzi has a 5.14 ERA with eight strikeouts in 7.0 innings of work. Over his MLB career, Odorizzi carries a 3.89 ERA with a 62-55 record and 991 strikeouts in 1035.2 innings. 

Over on the Royals’ side, they’ve had a mixed bag when it comes to offense this season. Whit Merrifield is off to a nice start with a .302 batting average, five homers, 17 RBI and 18 runs. Salvador Perez is also hitting well on a .307 BA with 10 runs, four homers and 12 RBI. Guys like Alex Gordon (.174 average) and Adalberto Mondesi (.227 average) haven’t really gotten going yet, though. 

In the Friday starting pitcher role, Kansas City will send out Danny Duffy. In his five starts this season, Duffy has a 1-2 record and a 4.44 ERA with 28 Ks in 24.1 innings of work. Duffy is 61-63 in his MLB career, with a 3.99 ERA and 954 strikeouts in 1079.1 frames overall. 

The Twins are 43-17 in their last 60 road games versus a team with a losing record and 17-7 in their last 24 Friday games. Minnesota is 43-19 in their last 62 during game one of a series and 47-20 in their last 67 games as a favorite. 

Meanwhile, the Royals are 18-37 in their last 55 games as a home underdog and 104-217 in their last 321 games as an underdog. Kansas City is also 7-19 in their last 26 Friday games and 1-4 in their last five games following an off day. 

Pick: I’m going to take a shot at the Royals here. That’s mostly because Duffy is on the mound for Kansas City, and he had a solid game Saturday at Minnesota. In that one, Duffy managed five innings with two runs (one unearned) and struck out eight batters. If he can eat up some innings for Kansas City again here (with minimal damage), the Royals will have a nice opportunity for a victory.