Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports/Sipa USA

Minnesota Twins vs Detroit Tigers: A AL Central matchup

The Minnesota Twins are visiting the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park on Friday.

The Twins have a promising season

The Minnesota Twins are second in the AL Central with a 56-45 record and are 27-24 on the road. The Twins are coming off a 5-4 win over the Philadelphia Phillies which got them a 2-1 series win over the best team in the entire league. Minnesota has a 4.11 ERA, a .232 batting average, a .293 on-base percentage, and 1.17 walks plus hits per inning pitched. Willi Castro leads the Twins with 94 hits and 57 runs so far in the season while Ryan Jeffers is on top with 14 home runs.

The Tigers are picking up the pace

The Detroit Tigers are fourth in the AL Central with a 51-53 record, including 24-24 at home. The Tigers are coming off a 3-0 win against the Cleveland Guardians which got the series spli at two wins apiece. The Tigers have a 3.94 ERA, a .240 batting average, a .302 on-base percentage, and 1.23 walks plus hits per inning pitched. Riley Greene is the best player on the team with 98 hits, 57 runs, and 17 home runs.

Betting Trends

The Tigers are 12-5 SU in their last 17 games overall, 4-1 SU in their last 5 home games and 5-2 SU in their last 7 home games against the Twins. Detroit has played over the total run line in 5 of their last 7 games overall, in 4 of their last 6 games against Minnesota and in 13 of their last 16 games against teams from the AL. The Twins are 2-4 SU in their last 6 games overall, 2-5 SU in their last 7 games against the Tigers and 4-1 SU in their last 5 games against teams from the AL. Minnesota has played over the total run line in 4 of their last 5 games overall and has stayed under in 4 of their last 5 games on the road.

Prediction and Conclusion

The AL Central rivals go into this series 6.5 games apart in the division standings, with the Twins being 4.5 games behind the leading Cleveland Guardians. This means that this series can play a major role in the standings, as the Twins may come close to the top or get the Tigers right behind their back. They have split the last ten head-to-head games, and no team has won two consecutive games in their last six matchups, which speaks enough about how unpredictable this game and the series are. The Tiwns will start Pablo Lopez, who is 8-7 for the season with a 4.86 ERA, 128 K, 111 IP, and 1.15 WHIP. The Tigers will go with Keider Montero, who is 1-3 for the season with a 5.97 ERA, 26 K, 31.2 IP, and 1.39 WHIP. The over has come in their last three meetings, with the last two going in double digits, so we go over 8 runs in total in this game.