The Toronto Blue Jays and the Minnesota Twins meet Tuesday in MLB Wild Card playoffs action from Target Field. Toronto posted an 89-73 overall record this year, eking into the postseason with the final Wild Card berth in the league. As for Minnesota, they posted an 87-75 record overall, which was good enough to take the AL Central by nine games. Check back all season long for free MLB picks at Sports Chat Place. 

Toronto Blue Jays 

The Blue Jays were in trouble back in the middle of September, falling out of the Wild Card positions after a sweep by the Rangers. Toronto pulled it together and finished strong against their AL East opponents the rest of the way, though. The Jays finished off the season with a 12-8 loss to the Rays on Sunday that featured a solo homer from Brandon Belt. 

In the starter slot for the Blue Jays on Tuesday will most likely be Kevin Gausman. In 2023 Gausman went 12-9 with a 3.16 ERA in 31 starts. Gausman has seven postseason games (two starts) under his belt, with a 4.57 ERA and an 0-1 record overall. 

Toronto Blue Jays Team Facts

The Blue Jays have won each of their last six games as road underdogs following a loss.
The Blue Jays have covered the run line in 14 of their last 15 games as road underdogs.
The Blue Jays have led after 7 innings in each of their last five games against AL Central opponents.
The Blue Jays have lost the first inning in each of their last four road games against American League opponents.
The ‘Inning 1 OVER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Blue Jays’ last six games as underdogs.

Minnesota Twins 

Over on the Twins’ side, they’ve come into the postseason on a hot streak, winning eight of their last nine series. (Dropping two of three games to the Rays in mid-September was their lone blemish.) Minnesota also finished off the regular season with a loss though, falling 3-2 to Colorado on Sunday. Edouard Julien and Alex Kirilloff (two hits) each had an RBI in the defeat. 

It’ll be Pablo Lopez in the starting role for the Twins on Tuesday. This year Lopez went 11-8 with a 3.66 ERA in 32 starts. In his postseason career, Lopez has just one start, going 0-1 with a 3.60 ERA and seven Ks in 5.0 innings. 

Minnesota Twins Team Facts

The Twins have won each of their last six games following a loss.
The Twins have failed to cover the run line in each of their last eight day games at Target Field following a road loss.
The Twins have trailed after 3 innings in each of their last five playoff games against AL East opponents.
The Twins have trailed after 5 innings in each of their last six playoff games against AL East opponents.
The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Twins’ last eight day games.

Matchup/League Facts

The Minnesota Twins rank 30th in the league for strikeouts against this season (1654).
The Minnesota Twins rank 1st in the league for strikeouts this season (1560).
The Toronto Blue Jays rank 2nd in the league for strikeouts this season (1528).
The Toronto Blue Jays are one of only 4 teams in the league to rank top 10 in both strikeouts and on-base percentage this season.

ANDREW’S FREE PICK 

I’ll probably take a stab on the Twins. You could make a great case either way here though, so I’m also probably staying away. Minnesota’s recent postseason struggles will be a hefty topic of conversation leading into this opener. The Twins haven’t won a playoff game since 2004; they’ve been the victims of sweeps in five series and also lost a Wild Card game during that stretch. That said, Minnesota’s pitching staff can be sneaky good this year—even with the lack of big names. That designation includes Lopez, though he’s been struggling a bit lately with 11 earned runs over 15.1 innings in his last three starts. Toronto could jump on Lopez early if he struggles, but the Blue Jays aren’t great with runners in scoring position this year. That could give Minnesota just enough breathing room to power out a win. I like this one to be close; it’ll be a fun matchup to watch and I think the Twins can finally get that playoff victory.