Minnesota Twins (60-77) vs. Cleveland Indians (68-67)
September 8, 2021 6:10 pm EDT
The Line: Cleveland Indians -125 / Minnesota Twins -105; Over/Under: +9
(Get latest betting odds)
The Minnesota Twins and the Cleveland Indians meet Wednesday in MLB action from Progressive Field. This will be the third installment in a four-game series. The Twins took a three-run win on Monday in the opener, then in the Tuesday game Minnesota put up a shutout win. Check back all season long for free MLB picks at Sports Chat Place.
Minnesota got their offense going in the Monday game, posting 12 hits in a 5-2 victory. In the Tuesday matchup, the Twins had seven team hits in a 3-0 win. Starter John Gant put up 5.0 innings with no earned on three hits and four walks.
For the Wednesday game three starter, the Twins will send out Joe Ryan. So far this year Ryan only has one game to his credit (his MLB debut) with 5.0 innings and three earned runs.
Over on the Indians’ side, they fell behind 3-0 after three innings in the Monday game and couldn’t come back. On Tuesday, Cleveland had seven team hits but couldn’t translate anything to the scoreboard. Aaron Civale had 4.2 innings with one earned on three hits and one walk.
For the Wednesday game starter, the Indians will send out Triston McKenzie. Over his 20 games (19 starts) this year, McKenzie has a 4-5 record with 113 Ks in 97.1 innings.
The Twins are 9-23 in their last 32 games with a total of 7.0-8.5 and 5-17 in their last 22 versus a starter with a WHIP less than 1.15. The over is 3-1-1 in Minnesota’s last five in game three of a series and 7-3-1 in their last 11 Wednesday games.
Meanwhile, the Indians are 5-0 in their last five in game three of a series and 114-55 in their last 169 at home versus a team with a losing record. The over is 8-2 in the Indians’ last 10 in game three of a series and the under is 5-2 in their last seven versus the AL Central.
PICK: I’m going to stick with the Indians. Over his last three games, McKenzie has been cruising along quite well. He’s 3-0 in that stretch with just two earned on five hits and two walks in a span of 21.0 innings. As for Ryan, he did okay in his debut with three earned on three hits, a walk and a homer in 5.0 innings during his debut but still took the loss. I like Ryan to pitch reasonably well here in a lower-scoring Cleveland win.
