The Oakland A’s and the Minnesota Twins meet in game one of their three-game MLB series from Target Field on Tuesday night.
A’s Trying To Avoid Dubious Distinction
The Oakland A’s are trying to avoid finishing the year as the worst team in baseball, but it looks like the designation will be theirs as the A’s are 48-108 on the year, 6 games back of the Royals for the second-worst record in MLB. The A’s hit that mark with a 2-0 loss in Sunday’s series finale against the Tigers. Brent Rooker leads the A’s with 29 home runs and 65 RBIs this season, while Esteury Ruiz has 111 hits, a .256 batting average and a team-best 65 stolen bases. Ryan Noda, Zack Gelof, JJ Bleday, Seth Brown and Shea Langeliers also have double-digit home runs for the A’s this season, while Ruiz also leads the A’s in doubles with 24. The A’s did not have a starting pitcher announced at the time that this article was posted.
Oakland Athletics Team Facts
The Athletics have lost seven of their last eight games against the Twins following a loss.
The Athletics have covered the run line in each of their last nine games at Target Field.
The 'Inning 1 OVER 0.5 runs' market has hit in each of the Athletics' last three night games against AL Central opponents.
The Athletics have trailed after 3 innings in each of their last four games against American League opponents that held a winning record.
The Athletics have trailed after 5 innings in each of their last six night games.
Twins Heating Up Before Playoffs
The Minnesota Twins are picking up some steam heading into the postseason as the AL Central champions with a record of 83-73 on the year after a series win over the Angels with a 9-3 victory on Sunday. Max Kepler leads the Twins with 23 home runs along with 62 RBIs while Joey Gallo also has 21 homers this season. Carlos Correa has a team-high 65 RBIs and 118 hits as well as leading the Twins in doubles with 29 two-baggers this season. Bailey Ober will start for the Twins here and is 7-6 with a 3.66 ERA and 129 strikeouts this season.
Minnesota Twins Team Facts
The Twins have won eight of their last nine games against the Athletics.
The Twins have failed to cover the run line in each of their last six home games against the Athletics following a win.
The 'Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs' market has hit in each of the Twins' last seven games.
Matchup/League Facts
The Minnesota Twins rank 30th in the league for strikeouts against this season (1600).
The Minnesota Twins rank 1st in the league for strikeouts this season (1477).
The Oakland Athletics rank 30th in the league for runs scored this season (565).
The Oakland Athletics rank 30th in the league for hits this season (1144).
Chris’ Pick
I’m rocking with the Twins here. I just think the A’s have given up and unlike the Royals, who are right above Oakland, the A’s just don’t have any desire to even play spoiler. The Twins still have an outside shot at catching the AL West leader for the second spot in the AL, and I think it’s one of those things where the Twins just want to build momentum heading into the postseason. I’ll side with Minnesota here even if it’s more of a fade of Oakland than anything else.
