Minnesota Twins (47-63) vs. Houston Astros (65-45)
August 7, 2021 7:10 pm EDT
The Line: Houston Astros -263 / Minnesota Twins +185; Over/Under: -9.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Minnesota Twins and Houston Astros meet Saturday in MLB action at Minute Maid Park. The Twins look for a win after splitting their last 10 games. The Astros need a win after losing five of their last six games.
The Minnesota Twins have scored 15 runs in their last three games and four or more runs in five of their last six games. The Twins have won seven of their last 10 games when scoring four or more runs. Jorge Polanco leads the Twins with 107 hits and 57 RBI while Luis Arraez and Josh Donaldson have combined for 151 hits and 71 RBI. Michael Pineda gets the ball, and he is 4-6 with a 3.89 ERA and 67 strikeouts this season. Pineda is 3-5 with a 5.18 ERA and 44 strikeouts in his career against the Astros.
The Houston Astros have scored 12 runs in their last three games and four or more runs in six of their last nine games. The Astros have split their last 10 games when scoring four or more runs. Yuli Gurriel leads the Astros with 117 hits and 66 RBI while Michael Brantley and Jose Altuve have combined for 224 hits and 102 RBI. Luis Garcia gets the ball, and he is 7-6 with a 3.49 ERA and 121 strikeouts this season. This will be Garcia’s second career game against the Twins.
The Twins are 0-4 in their last 4 during game 3 of a series and 6-13 in their last 19 road games. The Astros are 16-7 in their last 23 during game 3 of a series and 135-65 in their last 200 home games. The over is 4-1 in Twins last 5 overall. The under is 5-2 in Astros last 7 Saturday games. The Twins are 3-9 in the last 12 meetings in Houston.
I’m not backing the Astros at this price given the struggles they’ve had this week. However, Michael Pineda has been rough lately, allowing 26 hits and 10 earned runs in his last 20.1 innings. Luis Garcia can also have issues at times with his control. Expect some fireworks. Give me the over in this contest.
