Minnesota Twins at Baltimore Orioles Betting Preview
Tuesday night features the second of a four-game series between the Minnesota Twins (14-9) and the Baltimore Orioles (8-15). The Orioles will host this one at Camden Yards, with the first pitch scheduled for 7:05 pm ET.
On Monday, the Twins took the opener of the series 2-1. Chris Paddack got the win for the Twins after going 5.1 innings, allowing just one run and striking out three.
Offensively, the Twins racked up seven hits, with both Carlos Correa and Ryan Jeffers contributing runs batted in.
For the Orioles, Tyler Wells had a terrific start, going five innings, allowing one run on four hits. Unfortunately for Baltimore fans, reliever Bryan Baker gave up the go-ahead-run in the sixth innings.
The Orioles only managed four hits in the contest, with Ramon Urias knocking in the only run of the game.
The Twins are the favorites on Tuesday despite playing on the road. They are -168 to win while the Orioles’ moneyline sits at +142. The runline features Baltimore +1.5 (-126), and the over/under for total runs is seven.
Twins Try To Maintain Fast Start
In a division that was largely expected to be controlled by the Chicago White Sox, the Minnesota Twins have gotten off to a fast start and enter play Tuesday with a 3.5-game divisional lead over the Cleveland Guardians. As one of the hottest teams in baseball, they have won nine of their last ten games overall.
Their strong start now has them as the favorites to win the AL Central at +115, with Chicago behind them at +125.
Taking the mound for the Twins is 25-year-old righty Joe Ryan. This season, Ryan is 3-1 with a 1.17 ERA, 0.70 WHIP, and 25 strikeouts in 23 innings pitched. In his last start, he picked up the win over Detroit after going seven innings, allowing no earned runs, and struck out nine.
Offensively, center fielder Byron Buxton has been sensational in the early going. In 57 at bats, he is hitting .281/.339/.719 with a team-leading seven home runs, 12 runs batted in, and 14 runs scored.
Acquired via free agency in the offseason, shortstop Carlos Correa is still trying to find his groove. He is currently hitting .256/.322/.329 but only has a single home run and nine runs batted in to date.
Orioles Look To Make Gains As Postseason Window Still Not Open
Especially playing in a loaded AL East, it is hard to envision a scenario in which the Baltimore Orioles make a postseason run this year. In fact, just 23 games in, they already sit nine games back of first place in the division.
Still, the Orioles are looking to make gains this season as some of the young prospects start to enter the league. In fact, with an abundance of talent in the minors and some decent pieces already on the big club, they could be within just a couple years of competing.
Trying to split the first two games of the series, Baltimore will turn to lefty Bruce Zimmermann (1-1, 0.93 ERA, 21 strikeouts) to take the mound Tuesday. In his last start, Zimmerman took the loss against the Yankees. While he gave up four runs in 4.1 innings, none of them were earned as the defense let him down.
On the offensive side, outfielder Anthony Santander has led the way. He is currently hitting .243/.400/.392 with a team-leading three home runs and 11 runs batted in.
For the Orioles, the offense has largely struggled to this point, though. They rank 26th in the majors in scoring, averaging just 3.23 runs per game.
Twins/Orioles Betting Prediction
While the Orioles have played better at home (5-5) than on the road (3-10), the trends still tend to point to Minnesota in this one.
Not only are they 4-1 in their last five road games, but the Twins are 17-2 in their last 19 games against the Orioles.
Furthermore, Joe Ryan has looked really locked in during the early stretch of the season and could feast against a struggling Baltimore team.
With the Orioles struggling to consistently score, it won’t take much for Baltimore to edge them out in this one. Expect the Twins not only to win but to cover the -1.5 runline (+105) as well.
