The Boston Red Sox and the Minnesota Twins meet Thursday in MLB action from Target Field. This will be the finale in a four-game series. Boston took wins in the first pair, then on Wednesday the Twins eked out an extra-innings victory. Check back all season long for free MLB picks at Sports Chat Place.

Boston Red Sox 

The Red Sox posted a 9-3 win in the Monday opener of this set, then took a 10-4 victory on Tuesday. In game three Boston came back from an early 2-1 deficit but eventually lost 5-4 in 10 innings. Starter Garrett Whitlock finished with 7.0 innings, four earned, eight hits and zero walks. 

Justin Garza will make the start for the Red Sox on Thursday. This year Garza is 0-1 with a 3.46 ERA and 12 strikeouts. 

Minnesota Twins 

Over on the Twins’ side, they gave up five runs in the seventh inning during the Tuesday loss and were out-hit 15-11. On Wednesday Minnesota notched nine hits and two errors in the walk-off win. Sonny Gray put up 5.0 innings in the start with six hits, three earned and two walks. 

Joe Ryan will make the start for the Twins on Thursday. Over his 14 starts this year Ryan is 7-4 with a 3.30 ERA and 91 Ks in 84.2 frames. Ryan is 22-13 in his career with a 3.52 ERA in 46 starts total.

ANDREW’S FREE PICK 

I might take a stab on Minnesota here. Probably staying away, though. Ryan is coming off a sketchy outing versus Detroit (six earned in 7.0 innings during a loss) but he hadn’t been too bad in his previous pair on 12.2 combined innings and five earned. Ryan will need some help from both the bats and the pen here though, so it’s not an easy sell. On Wednesday the Twins got a nice effort from their pen with 5.0 innings, four hits, one earned, two walks and six Ks combined. It’ll take a group effort but I think the Twins have a decent shot at evening things up in the finale.