Twins eye fourth straight W over Indians
The acquisition of Andrew Miller was supposed to push the Indians over the top in the American League Central. Ever since Monday’s deal, however, they can’t even beat the last-place Twins.
Minnesota aims to complete a four-game sweep of the Tribe this afternoon, with a 12:10 p.m. ET first pitch at Progressive Field. Online sports book Bovada.lv is having trouble supporting the road club, though, giving Cleveland odds of -150 to salvage the series finale. Paul Molitor’s troops enter as +130 underdogs.
Miller hasn’t yet had the chance to make an impact, as the Twins continue to bombard Terry Francona’s much-ballyhooed rotation. In the past three contests, Minnesota’s torched Danny Salazar, Carlos Carrasco and Trevor Bauer for 21 runs and 23 hits. As a result, the Indians’ grip on the division suddenly seems tenuous.
Francona will turn to an exceedingly unlikely candidate to stop the bleeding. Rookie Mike Clevinger arrives from Class AAA Columbus for his fifth career MLB assignment. The 25-year-old righty went 11-1 with a 3.00 ERA down on the farm, striking out 97 in 93 innings.
MLB Quick Links: Scores & Matchups | Injuries | Odds Comparison | Betting Trends | ATS Stats
Clevinger’s opposition comes in the form of Hector Santiago. The Twins snatched the veteran southpaw from the Angels earlier in the week. Most recently, Santiago limited the Red Sox to two runs on a mere four hits. He holds a mark of 2-2 with a 5.94 ERA in seven lifetime meetings with the Indians.
We don’t necessarily expect the visitors to capture their fifth victory in a row. Still, why wouldn’t these two rivals keep blasting the baseball? Bank on another high-scoring affair in northern Ohio.
THURSDAY MLB FREE PICK: TWINS/INDIANS OVER 9.5 RUNS