The Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Guardians clash Monday in game 1 of an MLB series at Progressive Field. Let’s preview this game and give out a pick and prediction.

Minnesota Twins Betting Preview

The Twins look for a win after splitting their last 8 games. The Twins have a 5-game lead in the AL Central. The Twins pitching staff is 7th in ERA (3.95), 4th in WHIP (1.21) and 1st in quality starts (67). The Twins offense is 15th in runs per game (4.54), 21st in batting average (.242) and 6th in homers (192). Carlos Correa leads the Twins with 108 hits and 59 RBI, while Donovan Solano and Max Kepler have combined for 189 hits and 84 RBI. Pablo Lopez gets the ball, and he is 9-7 with a 3.72 ERA and 196 strikeouts this season. Lopez is 1-1 with a 4.50 ERA and 16 strikeouts in his career against the Guardians.

Minnesota Twins Team Facts

• The Twins have lost each of their last six games as favorites against AL Central opponents following a loss.
• The Twins have covered the run line each of their last eight Monday games against AL Central opponents that held a losing record.
• The Twins have trailed after 3 innings in seven of their last nine games as road favorites against AL Central opponents.
• The Twins have trailed after 7 innings in eight of their last nine games as road favorites against AL Central opponents.
• The Twins have trailed after 5 innings in six of their last nine games as road favorites against AL Central opponents.

Cleveland Guardians Betting Preview

The Guardians look for a win after winning 6 of their last 9 games. The Guardians are 5 games back in the AL Central. The Guardians pitching staff is 6th in ERA (3.84), 17th in WHIP (1.28) and 13th in quality starts (49). The Guardians’ offense is 27th in runs per game (4.07), 17th in batting average (.248) and 30th in homers (104). Steven Kwan leads the Guardians with 148 hits and 47 RBI, while Jose Ramirez and Josh Naylor have combined for 250 hits and 151 RBI. Lucas Giolito gets the ball, and he is 7-11 with a 4.45 ERA and 165 strikeouts this season. Giolito is 8-9 with a 3.73 ERA and 133 strikeouts in his career against the Twins.

Cleveland Guardians Team Facts

• The Guardians have won four of their last five games as underdogs.
• The underdogs have covered the run line in eight of the last nine games between the Twins and Guardians.
• The Guardians have trailed after 7 innings in each of their last four home games against AL Central opponents.
• The Guardians have trailed after 5 innings in each of their last four home games against AL Central opponents.
• The ‘Inning 1 OVER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Guardians’ last four night games at Progressive Field.

Matchup/League Facts

• The Cleveland Guardians ranks 30th in the league for home runs this season (104).
• The Cleveland Guardians ranks 29th in the league for RBI’s this season (520).
• The Minnesota Twins ranks 30th in the league for strikeouts against this season (1412).
• The Minnesota Twins ranks 1st in the league for strikeouts this season (1289).

Randy’s Pick

The Twins should be favorites for obvious reasons, and Pablo Lopez is looking more and more like the pitcher they thought they were getting from Miami. Lopez has a 2.25 ERA in his last 36 innings. With that said, the Guardians are coming off a strong week, and they need to take advantage of this series if they’re going to make a run for the division. Lucas Giolito has a 2.53 ERA and .186 allowed batting average at home this season. Big series for the Guardians. Give me the plus money.