Expect Pitching To Be The Highlight Of Twins Vs. Astros

Twins vs. Astros, 4:10 ET

Happy Memorial Day to everyone out there. We are all eternally grateful for those that have given their lives so that we can do things like this. America may not be perfect, but we are lucky to live here and for that, we need to thank those that have given their lives to help protect our freedom. So, thank you to your families and to those who are gone but not forgotten.

Yesterday, I shared an article about Merrill Kelly and the Diamondbacks being a bit disrespected. Kelly was clearly the better pitcher and he performed admirably yesterday with a victory for us. On Saturday, though, I was wrong about a pitcher being disrespected (Corbin Burnes pitched well, but he didn't win the game for us). Now, I'm going to try and win two out of three with a game between the Twins and Astros. After a nice start to the season, the Twins are starting to slow down a bit. They are sitting at just a game over .500 coming into the day. After being at home for the past six games, they now head out to Houston for a three-game set. The Astros started the season slowly but are now playing solid baseball. They were on the road before this game too, so they don't get any travel advantage over the Twins. But, they are playing very well. On May 8th, they were 17-18, and since that, they have gone 14-3, including an eight-game winning streak.

The Astros take on the Twins on Monday in Houston. (Photo by LG Patterson/MLB via Getty Images)

Today will be more of a challenge for the Astros though as they are facing a very talented pitcher in Sonny Gray. In April, you couldn't have asked for a better start than what Gray turned in. He allowed just three earned runs in 35 innings. In May, he has still been good, but not quite as solid. Over 19.1 innings, he has allowed eight runs. The Twins have also lost all four of Gray's starts, but he hasn't allowed more than three earned runs in any game this season, so it really isn't his fault. The Astros are sending J.P. France to the hill in order to combat Gray. He's been good outside of his only home start of the season. In that one start, he allowed six earned runs over 3.2 innings to the Cubs. The other three starts he allowed one earned run or fewer and went at least five innings. Was his start at home the sign of things to come, or was it a fluke?

I'm going to take the under eight in this game. I think France is pitching pretty well and the one start at home was not a sign of things to come, but just a one-game issue. Gray is still pitching well and keeping teams at bay. They do need to make sure the bullpen can hold their end of the bargain. I'm going to back the under in this one.

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