Minnesota Twins vs Tampa Bay Rays Prediction 6-18-24 Picks

In this article we will formulate a Minnesota Twins vs Tampa Bay Rays prediction for this MLB game on Tuesday, June 18th at Target Field in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Let’s take a look at the prediction for game one in the series. 

Twins Going for Six Straight Wins 

The Minnesota Twins are 40-32 this year and they have won five games in a row. Minnesota is coming off of a series win against Oakland, where they won all four games by scores of 6-2, 6-5, 6-2, and 8-7. Prior to that series, the Twins won two out of three against the Rockies, lost two out of three against the Pirates, and lost all three against the Yankees. Minnesota is 7-1 in their last eight games and they are third in the AL Central behind Kansas City and Cleveland. 

The Minnesota pitching staff has a 4.22 ERA, a 1.21 WHIP, and a .241 opponent batting average. The Twins offense has scored 334 runs with a .243 batting average and a .314 on base percentage. Carlos Correa is batting .308 with eight home runs and 35 RBI’s for the Twins this season. Minnesota is 11th in runs scored so far this year and they have scored at least six runs in five straight games. 

Rays Trying to String Wins Together 

The Tampa Bay Rays are 34-38 this season and they have won three of their last six games. Tampa Bay is coming off of a series loss against the Braves, where they lost two out of three games and allowed 22 runs in the three games. Prior to that series, the Rays won two out of three against the Cubs, lost all four against the Orioles, and won both games against the Marlins. Tampa Bay is just 3-7 in their last 10 games and they are last in the AL East, 15 games behind the Yankees. 

The Tampa Bay pitching staff has a 4.43 ERA, a 1.28 WHIP, and a .251 opponent batting average. The Rays offense has scored 279 runs with a .232 batting average and a .307 on base percentage. Isaac Paredes is batting .281 with 10 home runs and 38 RBI’s for the Rays this season. Tampa Bay is 25th in team ERA this year and they have allowed at least five runs in seven of their last ten games. 

Starting Pitchers

The projected starting pitcher for Minnesota is Pablo Lopez, who is 6-6 with a 5.33 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP over 76.0 innings pitched this year. Lopez has allowed six earned runs or more in three of his last five starts, but did allow two earned runs and five hits over five innings against Colorado in his last start. The projected starting pitcher for Tampa Bay is Aaron Civale, who is 2-5 with a 5.20 ERA and a 1.33 WHIP over 72.2 innings pitched this season. Civale has allowed two earned runs or fewer in three of his last four starts, but did allow four earned runs and seven hits over 5.0 innings against Baltimore two starts ago. 

Why the Tampa Bay Rays will win

The Twins have lost each of their last six games against AL East opponents.
The Rays have won six of their last seven games against the Twins.
The Twins have failed to cover the run line in each of their last six games against AL East opponents.
The Rays have covered the run line in each of their last four games as road underdogs against AL Central opponents.
The Twins have trailed after 3 innings in each of their last six games against AL East opponents.
The Twins have trailed after 5 innings in each of their last six games against AL East opponents.

Total Runs Facts

Eight of the Twins’ last nine games as favorites against AL East opponents have gone UNDER the total runs line.
Each of the Rays’ last five road games have gone OVER the total runs line.
The ‘Inning 1 OVER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Rays’ last seven road games.
The ‘Inning 1 OVER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Twins’ last three games.

Minnesota Twins vs Tampa Bay Rays Prediction 

Minnesota comes into this series playing very well and they are on a hot streak, as their offense is lighting up the scoreboard right now. The Twins are 22-14 at home and they will look take advantage of a Tampa Bay team that has allowed a lot of runs recently. Tampa Bay is starting Aaron Civale, who has some ugly numbers on the season, but has been decent recently. Minnesota is going with Pablo Lopez, who has not been good over his last five outings. I think we could see a higher scoring game here, but I am going to continue to fade Lopez. My Minnesota Twins vs Tampa Bay Rays prediction is for the Rays to win.