The Minnesota Twins and the Cincinnati Reds meet Tuesday in MLB action from Great American Ball Park. This will be the second installment in a three-game series. In the Monday opener, the Reds managed a four-run victory. Check back all season long for free MLB picks at Sports Chat Place.

Minnesota Twins 

The Twins took on the White Sox over the weekend, winning three of four games in that set. In Sunday’s 4-0 win Minnesota got a three-run homer from Edouard Julien in the fifth. On Monday versus the Reds, the Twins gave up four runs in the first four innings on the way to a 7-3 loss. Alex Kirilloff and Royce Lewis each posted a solo homer in the defeat. 

As starting pitcher for Tuesday’s matchup, the Twins are sending out Kenta Maeda. This year Made is 5-7 with a 4.50 ERA and 104 Ks in 96.0 innings. Maeda is 2-1 with a 4.95 ERA over his last seven starts total. 

Minnesota Twins Team Facts

The Twins have won each of their last 10 night games against NL Central opponents following a road loss.
The Twins have covered the run line in 14 of their last 15 night games against NL Central opponents following a road loss.
The Twins have trailed after 5 innings in each of their last four games at Great American Ball Park.
The Twins have trailed after 7 innings in three of their last four games as favorites against NL Central opponents.
The Twins have trailed after 3 innings in each of their last four games at Great American Ball Park.

Cincinnati Reds 

Over on the Reds’ side, they did pretty well against the Mets over the weekend by winning two of three games. In Sunday’s 8-4 loss, Cincinnati’s Christian Encarnacion-Strand (two RBI) and Nick Senzel (two hits) each homered. On Monday the Reds got a three-run homer from Will Benson in the seventh. Joey Votto finished with two hits, two RBI and a run as well. 

The Reds will send out Fernando Cruz in the Tuesday start. Cruz is 1-1 on the season with a 4.05 ERA and 88 strikeouts total. Cruz has a 2.35 ERA over his last seven games (one start). 

Cincinnati Reds Team Facts

The Reds have lost each of their last eight home games against AL Central opponents following a win.
The Reds have failed to cover the run line in each of their last 10 home games against AL Central opponents following a win.
The Reds have led after 3 innings in four of their last six games as home underdogs against AL Central opponents.
The Reds have led after 5 innings in three of their last four games as underdogs.
The Reds have led after 7 innings in three of their last four games as underdogs.

Matchup/League Facts

The Cincinnati Reds rank 1st in the league for steals this season (173).
The Cincinnati Reds rank 3rd in the league for triples this season (33).
The Minnesota Twins rank 30th in the league for strikeouts against this season (1551).
The Minnesota Twins rank 2nd in the league for strikeouts this season (1419).

ANDREW’S FREE PICK 

I’ll stay with the Twins in this one. Maeda is doing well over his last three starts. In that span he’s 2-0 with seven earned runs in 17.1 total innings on 18 hits and four walks. If Maeda can bag a quality start in this one Minnesota will be set up well. On Monday the Twins had a pretty rough pitching outing from Joe Ryan and Dallas Keuchel (8.0 innings; seven earned combined), but they were the only arms used in the game. The Twins had 30 runs in four games heading into Monday’s defeat, so I’ve got to think the offense will come back around in this second installment.