Andrew McInnis
Play: Minnesota Twins ML (-123)
Rating: E
The Indians take on the twins in Monday action; this is an excellent spot for the Twins as they have dominated Cleveland as of late, winning eight of the last nine matchups at home in Minnesota and 5-2 in the last seven overall.
Cleveland blew it up at the trade deadline; they're 5-9 since and have fallen out of the wildcard race completely. Although Minnesota's record isn’t excellent, the team includes a large portion of the roster that had made the playoffs over the last two years, and they're averaging the fourth-most home runs per game in the major league (1.44) with a .746 OPS at the plate. This game is all about the ability of Jorge Polanco and company to pound Cal Quantrill’s pitches with their bats. Quantrill gave up six hits and six earned runs in only 4.1 innings of work when he stared down the Twins’ lineup back in late June. The Twins have the power to extend the lousy week vibes going on in the Indians organization. Quintrell is averaging seven hits against per game, and if that happens again, some of those homers the twins hit could result in some big innings.
Sure, the Indians had a solid win against the improved Tigers Sunday night, but this is an entirely different match-up and one that they've struggled with on the road. I don't see Jax having a tough time with the Indians lineup that, besides one massive outburst, has worked to put up runs consistently. The twins are 7-3 in their last ten overall; rookie Griffin Jax is on the mound; despite his Era not being the prettiest, he's given up only one earned run in 3 of his last four outings. The fact is, this is a generous price on the Twins, they are much better than their record indicates, and they've proven it over their last two-week stretch by competing and defeating against division-leading teams like the Rays, White Sox & Astros
PLAY THE HOME TEAM. TAKE THE TWINS.