Take Twins Early In Game Against Orioles

Twins vs. Orioles, 12:05 ET

I wrote up this whole article on Gerrit Cole playing against the Cardinals yesterday, but he was moved to pitch today. That changes things a bit, now he faces Jordan Montgomery off of a nice start, and I don’t like the bet quite as much. I’m still going to bet the Yankees to win, but not for nearly as much as I had originally bet. Anyway, take that one for what you will, I’ll focus on the Twins vs. Orioles today and look to have a huge day.

The Twins are frauds. I don’t believe in them whatsoever. They are in one of the weakest divisions in all of baseball and still can’t really pull away from anyone. They are just in front of the Guardians, but the Tigers and White Sox, both of whom are double digits under .500 are within a good week of being next to the Twins in the standings. The Twins have a winning record against the AL Central but have struggled against the East and in Interleague play. They are 5-4 against the West, but honestly, that doesn’t mean much to me. The one guy I do like and believe in is taking the ball for them today, Sonny Gray. Gray has been one of the better pitchers in baseball this season and sports a 2.67 ERA. He did allow 12 runs in 27.1 in June but none of the games put the Twins in a spot where they should’ve struggled to win the game. He hasn’t faced many Orioles hitters a lot, but he has held the batters he has faced to six hits in 47 attempts.

If we are going to talk about teams and standings, the Orioles are ones that you have to feel deserve a better chance than what they’ve gotten so far this year. There is no lock here that they will make the playoffs but if they do, it is probably via the Wild Card. It is admirable that they’ve performed as well as they have even having to look up at the Rays all year. They’ve beaten up on the AL Central quite a bit (though in full transparency, most teams have). They are sending out Cole Irvin to the hill in hopes of keeping the thumping of Central squads going. Irvin has not looked pretty in his mixed role of relief and starting appearances. He’s made eight appearances this year and has allowed 21 earned runs in 26.1 innings. This will most likely be somewhat of an opener game for the Orioles as they will use their bullpen to close out the majority of this game. I do think the Twins, even with a crappy offense, can score a few runs against Irvin.

A few runs should be all we need here. I’m not a Twins supporter, but I am a supporter of a more reliable starter and that is Gray. I wouldn’t be surprised to see over four runs in five innings here, but I’ll take a shot with the Twins on the moneyline through five innings. The Twins could win this game, but I feel like the full game is more of a toss-up.

For more sports betting information and plays, follow David on Twitter: @futureprez2024