The Minnesota Twins and the Chicago White Sox meet on Tuesday in MLB action from Guaranteed Rate Field. This will be the second installment in a three-game series this week. Here’s a White Sox vs Twins prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best White Sox vs Twins pick.
Minnesota Twins Betting Preview
Minnesota took on the Saint Louis Cardinals in their weekend opening set. The Twins took a 5-3 loss in the Thursday matchup, then fell again on Saturday, this time 5-1. In the Sunday finale, Minnesota gave up three runs in the second and five in the third on the way to a 9-2 blowout loss. Willi Castro put up two hits with a solo homer, and Byron Buxton had the other RBI. Starter Bailey Ober had a bad day, pitching 2.2 innings and eight earned runs.
On Monday, in the series opener versus the White Sox, the Twins coughed up seven runs in the first two innings on the way to a rough 9-0 blowout loss. Minnesota only had two hits themselves, one by Castro and one by Ryan Jeffers (two walks). Starting pitcher Chris Paddack had a horrible outing, giving up nine earned runs on six hits and four walks in 3.1 innings of work.
In the starting pitcher slot for Tuesday, the Twins will send out Simeon Woods Richardson. Over his regular-season career, Richardson is 5-5 with a 4.17 ERA in 28 starts. He’s managed to strike out 117 batters in 133.2 innings total. Richardson has a 5-6 career record in the regular season with a 4.33 ERA in 30 games (29 starts).
Chicago White Sox Betting Preview
Over on the White Sox’s side, they took on the Los Angeles Angels in their first series of the season. Chicago had a nice game in the Thursday opener, posting an 8-1 victory. The Sox couldn’t keep the bats going in game two, however, notching a 1-0 defeat to even things up. In the Sunday rubber match, Chicago held a 2-2 tie through a lengthy rain delay but couldn’t get anything going when play resumed. The result was a 3-2 defeat. Nick Maton posted a solo home run in the loss, and Matt Thaiss had two hits with an RBI and a walk.
In the Monday game against Minnesota, the Sox bagged eight hits in their shutout win. Michael Taylor (two runs, two RBI, two hits), Andrew Benintendi (three RBI), and Andrew Vaughn (three RBI) each had a homer. Starting pitcher Martin Perez came away with 6.0 clean frames, nine Ks, no hits, and no walks in a very nice outing.
Shane Smith will make the start for the White Sox on Tuesday. It’ll be Smith’s major-league debut. This spring, Smith posted a 1-1 record with a 3.38 ERA in four starts. He gave up five hits in 10.2 innings of work total. The White Sox will meet the Tigers after this series.
Why the Chicago White Sox will win
- The Twins have lost each of their last eight games as favorites.
- The underdogs have won 11 of the Twins’ last 12 games.
- The White Sox have covered the run line in each of their last nine games at Rate Field.
- The Twins have failed to cover the run line in each of their last eight games.
- The Twins have trailed after 3 innings in each of their last five night games.
- The Twins have trailed after 5 innings in each of their last seven games against American League opponents.
- The White Sox have won the first inning in each of their last three games against AL Central opponents that held a losing record.
Why the Minnesota Twins will win
- The White Sox have lost each of their last 13 night games against AL Central opponents.
- The Twins have won each of their last seven Tuesday night games against AL Central opponents.
- The White Sox have failed to cover the run line in each of their last eight night games against AL Central opponents.
- The Twins have covered the run line in each of their last three night games against the White Sox following a loss.
- The White Sox have trailed after 3 innings in six of their last seven night games against AL Central opponents that held a losing record.
- The Twins have led after 5 innings in each of their last four night games against AL Central opponents.
Total Runs Facts
- Each of the Twins’ last four night games after playing the previous day have gone OVER the total runs line.
- Each of the White Sox’s last four night games against American League opponents have gone UNDER the total runs line.
- The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the White Sox’s last six night games.
- The ‘Inning 1 OVER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Twins’ last four games.
White Sox vs Twins Prediction
I’m going to lean toward taking a stab on the Twins, but they’ve got to find a way to plate some runs. It’ll be interesting to see what Smith can do in his MLB debut on the other side, as well. As for Richardson, he notched a 1-2 record with a 4.11 ERA in five games (three starts) this spring. If he can eat up some of the early innings without too much damage, the Twins will be looking pretty good on defense.
On Monday, Minnesota fell behind quickly on a bad outing from starter Paddack. The good news is that the bullpen posted a strong effort behind him, with three different arms (including Castro, who had a busy afternoon) logging a combined 4.2 clean innings, two hits, one walk, and three strikeouts. The bad news is that the offense failed—yet again. If Minnesota doesn’t get something going here, it’s going to be a long and fruitless series. I’m probably staying away from this one, all things considered.