Mariners Will Sink Twins

Twins vs. Mariners, 9:40 ET

Baseball is a fun sport to bet on, there are a million things that you can consider when putting a bet into the books. They have all the regular stats you'd consider, then the advanced stats, and even your gut instinct. I love reading my friend Geoff Clark's stuff because we have very different thoughts on how to handicap things. Sometimes we get to the same result even with different handicapping methods - yesterday that happened with the Padres game. I'm not sure what he is on today, but I am focused in on the Twins and Mariners game.

Over in the AL Central, it is a bloodbath. Everyone in the division (with the exception of the Royals) still has a somewhat legitimate shot at the division title. Around the All-Star Break, I was looking at the odds for how many teams would make the playoffs per division. The AL East and AL West had three teams and two teams, respectively, to make it as the favorite. Over in the AL Central... One team was the favorite and it was something like -2000. These teams are all terrible, but the best of them, right now at least, is the Twins. They look to keep moving with a win tonight over the Mariners in the series rubber match. They send out Kenta Maeda to do their dirty work tonight. Maeda brings out a 5.50 ERA to the mound with him. On a team full of players I have very little confidence in, Maeda brings very little to the equation in my opinion. He's had a couple of nice enough starts, but he also has games where he allows three earned runs over three innings to teams like the Athletics. He has been surprisingly good against Mariners hitters though.

The Twins look to steal the rubber match from the Mariners today. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)

The Mariners are just kind of existing right now, which is somewhat descriptive of everything they've done for years. Sure, last season they were exciting with Rookie of the Year, Julio Rodriguez, and making the playoffs. This season they are .500 exactly as of today and they do, seemingly, have a shot at reaching the playoffs, but what are they going to do at the deadline? Do they try and trade a few players away and start preparing for next year? Do they add an arm or two in hopes of making a push? Or do they do nothing at all and hope for the best? One guy that I imagine they will keep, and someone they added last year at the deadline, is Luis Castillo. Castillo started the year magnificently but has stumbled a bit as of late. None of his starts have really been terrible, but he is allowing runs more often than he should at this point. He has been solid at home this season, so I hope he can continue this once again.

I like the Mariners to win this game by more than one run here. I think they have the better pitcher, they have the better hitters (in my opinion), and I think defensively they will be better. Not to mention, they have home field advantage today. I'm going to back them on the run line tonight at +140.

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