Philadelphia Phillies vs. Minnesota Twins Prediction 8-12-23 MLB Picks

The Minnesota Twins and the Philadelphia Phillies meet in game two of their three-game MLB interleague series from Citizens Bank Park on Saturday. The Phillies walloped the Twins in game one, can they make it two straight here? Or will the Twins manage to eke out some revenge? Let’s dive in and find out.

Twins Fall On Their Faces Again

The Minnesota Twins had another chance to pick up a win and create some distance at the top of the AL Central, but blew their shot again after a 13-2 loss to the Phillies in Friday’s series opener. The loss dropped the Twins to 60-58 on the year, still 3.5 games clear at the top of the AL Central. Max Kepler leads the Twins with 19 home runs along with 45 RBIs while Joey Gallo has 18 homers and Byron Buxton has 17 home runs this season. Carlos Correa has a team-high 53 RBIs and 94 hits as well as leading the Twins in doubles with 25 two-baggers this season. Pablo Lopez will start for the Twins here and is 7-6 with a 3.81 ERA and 173 strikeouts this season.

Minnesota Twins Team Facts

• The Twins have lost each of their last nine games as underdogs against NL East opponents.
• The Twins have failed to cover the run line each of their last six games against NL East opponents that held a winning record.
• The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Twins’ last seven games against National League opponents.
• The Twins have trailed after 7 innings in each of their last six games against NL East opponents that held a winning record.
• The Twins have trailed after 3 innings in each of their last three night games.

Phillies Come Out Firing In Friday’s Win

The Phillies have been firing with some momentum after winning three straight and six of seven following their win over the Twins on Friday. The win propelled the Phillies to 65-52 on the year, still 9.5 games back in the NL East race but 4.5 games clear at the top of the NL Wild Card mountain. Bryson Stott leads the Phils with 129 hits and a .302 batting average this season while Kyle Schwarber is Philadelphia’s home run king with 30 homers in addition to 73 RBIs. Nick Castellanos is right alongside with 73 RBIs along with a team-high 27 doubles while Schwarber has the unfortunate title of leading Philadelphia with 151 strikeouts this season. Alec Bohm also leads the Phillies with 74 RBIs this season. Taijuan Walker is slated to start for the Phillies here and is 13-4 with a 3.98 ERA and 104 strikeouts this season.

Philadelphia Phillies Team Facts

• The Phillies have won each of their last nine games against American League opponents following a home win.
• The Phillies have covered the run line in each of their last five games after playing the previous day.
• The Phillies have led after 3 innings in each of their last three games against American League opponents.

Matchup/League Facts

• The Philadelphia Phillies are one of only 3 teams in the league to rank top 10 in both steals and batting average this season.
• The Philadelphia Phillies ranks T4th in the league for walks allowed this season (333).
• The Minnesota Twins ranks 30th in the league for strikeouts against this season (1210).
• The Minnesota Twins ranks 1st in the league for strikeouts this season (1125).

Chris’ Pick

I have to roll with the Phillies here. I get it, Pablo Lopez has pitched his much better baseball on the road this season, but the Twins are just flat out stinking up the joint right now and are just not a team I’m looking to put my hard earned money on. Walker’s pitched well at home and he just simply has the better team playing better baseball behind him. I’ll side with the Phils here.