The Detroit Tigers and the Minnesota Twins meet Saturday in MLB action from Target Field. Here’s a Tigers vs Twins prediction. This will be the second installment in a three-game series. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for the game.
Detroit Tigers Betting Preview
The Tigers took on the Texas Rangers in their last series. Detroit managed to win just one of those four games. On Friday versus the Twins, the Tigers eked out a 5-4 victory on 12 team hits. Starting pitcher Jack Flaherty struck out 10 in 6.0 innings with two earned on four hits and a walk.
In the starter role for the Saturday matchup the Tigers are sending out Reese Olson. Over his three starts this year, Olson is 0-2 with a 3.86 ERA and 14 Ks in 16.1 innings. Olson has a career record of 5-9 with a 3.98 ERA in 24 games (21 starts).
Minnesota Twins Betting Preview
Over on the Twins’ side, they dropped all three games versus the Baltimore Orioles in their last series. In Friday’s opener, Minnesota gave up the winning run in the top of the ninth and couldn’t respond. Trevor Larnach (two hits, homer) and Byron Buxton each had two RBI in the defeat.
Bailey Ober will take the mound for the Twins in the Saturday game two. This year in three starts Ober is 0-1 with a 6.57 ERA and 11 Ks in 12.1 innings. Ober is 13-13 with a 3.75 ERA in 60 career starts.
Minnesota Twins Team Facts
- The Twins have lost each of their last five games as home favorites.
- The Twins have failed to cover the run line each of their last nine home games against AL Central opponents that held a winning record.
- The Twins have trailed after 3 innings in each of their last three games as favorites against American League opponents.
- The Twins have trailed after 7 innings in five of their last six games as favorites against AL Central opponents.
- The Twins have trailed after 5 innings in each of their last five games as home favorites against American League opponents.
Detroit Tigers Team Facts
- The Tigers have won each of their last nine road games against AL Central opponents.
- The Tigers have failed to cover the run line each of their last eight day games against American League opponents that held a losing record.
- The Tigers have lost the first inning in each of their last three games against American League opponents.
- The Tigers have led after 7 innings in each of their last six Saturday day games as underdogs.
- The Tigers have led after 5 innings in each of their last four games as road underdogs against AL Central opponents.
Tigers vs Twins Prediction
I’ll lean toward Detroit here. We should have a pretty good pitching matchup if both guys are on point, though. Olson had a rough outing versus Pittsburgh on April 8 (4.1 innings; six earned) but he’s coming off 6.1 innings and one earned in his last start—a tough-luck loss to Texas. As for Ober, he’s got just one earned in his last two starts over 11.0 combined innings.
On Friday in the opener the Tigers got 10 combined hits and all five RBI from Spencer Torkelson, Kerry Carpenter and Wenceel Perez. It was a quiet night at the plate otherwise, outside of Parker Meadows (two runs; hit; walk). I’d like to see a few more bats get in on the action in game two.