Kansas City Royals (14-28) vs. Minnesota Twins (27-17)
May 26, 2022 7:40 pm EDT
The Line: Minnesota Twins -208 / Kansas City Royals +170; Over/Under: -7.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Kansas City Royals and the Minnesota Twins meet in an AL Central division matchup in MLB action from Target Field on Thursday.
The Kansas City Royals will try to snap a six-game losing skid after an 8-6 loss to Arizona last time out. Andrew Benintendi leads the Royals with 50 hits along with a .327 batting average and a team-high 18 RBIs while Salvador Perez has a team-high 6 home runs and 18 RBIs of his own. Perez has 8 doubles and Hunter Dozier has 8 doubles as well as a pair of triples and Bobby Witt Jr. has 9 doubles as well on the year. Witt Jr. and Benintendi each have a pair of triples as well on the year while Whit Merrifield has also contributed 18 RBIs this season. Daniel Lynch will start here and is 2-3 with a 4.01 ERA and 31 strikeouts this season.
The Minnesota Twins will try to bounce back from a 4-2 loss to Detroit in Wednesday’s matchup. Luis Arraez has 41 hits including 5 doubles while also posting a .347 batting average. Byron Buxton also has 23 hits with a team-high 11 home runs and 21 RBIs and Trevor Larnach has 9 doubles and Gary Sanchez has 13 doubles to lead the Twins in two-baggers this season. Jorge Polanco has 35 hits and 24 RBIs and Max Kepler has 22 RBIs as well on the year, while Carlos Correa’s also added 33 hits. Devin Smeltzer will start here and is 1-0 with a 1.74 ERA and 2 strikeouts this season.
Kansas City is 9-23 in their last 32 games overall and 6-14 in their last 20 road games while the over is 5-0 in their last 5 games as an underdog. Minnesota is 4-1 in their last 5 home games and 16-5 in their last 21 games as a home favorite while the over is 5-1-1 in their last 7 games overall.
I get the case to be made for either team in this game, but I’m on the Twins run line here. As much as I’m not a huge Devin Smeltzer guy, but the fact is that right now, going against the Twins as a home favorite is not something anyone should be going out of their way to do, even with Wednesday’s loss to Detroit. Daniel Lynch has improved slightly in 2022, but he’s still having some issues with control and the Royals have struggling with keeping runs off on the other side during the course of this losing skid. Give me Minnesota -1.5 here.
