Buckle up for another exciting Thursday night, as the MLB serves up a pair of games guaranteed to take you on a wild roller coaster ride. Our first game features a crucial crash between the Minnesota Twins and Baltimore Orioles, who are both persistently gunning for the final wildcard spot in the American League. Later on, the Tampa Bay Rays pay the Houston Astros a visit for the conclusion of their four-game series at Minute Maid Park.
Read on below to get a quick preview of these two intriguing matchups. You can also click here for a comprehensive breakdown of the Giants and Pirates game.
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Minnesota Twins vs. Baltimore Orioles (7:05 PM ET)
Line:Minnesota Twins (+136) vs. Baltimore Orioles (-151); total: 8.5 – view all MLB lines
[sc:MLB240banner ]Tyler Duffey (1-1, 6.75 ERA) hasn’t played much for the Twins this season, as tonight’s contest marks just his third start. The good news, though, is he’s coming off a terrific performance against the Cleveland Saturday night wherein he logged six scoreless innings to capture the 4-1 triumph. But prior to this, Duffy was the total opposite, allowing six earned runs and five hits in two frames for the 9-7 loss at Toronto.
Baltimore, meanwhile, counters with Miguel Gonzalez, who is 9-8 with a 4.42 ERA on the year. He was unable to pick up the winning decision during his last time out. However, the 31-year-old righty managed to surrender only three runs on six hits over seven frames to help the O’s get a come-from-behind win versus Oakland on August 15, 4-3. Across two career starts opposite the Twins, Gonzalez holds a 1-1 record with a 3.09 ERA and 1.29 WHIP.
Minnesota has lost five of its last seven games overall. The Orioles, on the other hand, are 5-5 in their previous 10 with Gonzalez starting.
Line: Tampa Bay Rays (-101) vs. Houston Astros (-109); total: 7.0– view all MLB lines
Good things usually happen whenever Chris Archer (10-9, 2.93 ERA) steps on the mound for the Rays. But that wasn’t the case in his previous outing at Texas on Saturday, as he was rocked for seven earned runs and 11 hits in 5 1/3 innings. They lost that game, 12-4. Archer will be attempting a bounce back performance later tonight at Houston, where he is 2-1 with a sizzling 1.09 ERA, a .85 WHIP and a .157 opponents’ batting average across four career starts.
As for the Astros, they hand the ball to Collin McHugh (13-6, 4.o9 ERA), who’s fresh off a thrilling duel versus Tigers’ Justin Verlander. He gave up just one run in seven frames of four-hit ball despite the 4-2 defeat. But McHugh has considerably struggled at Minute Maid Park this season, owning a high ERA of 4.48.
Tampa Bay is 4-3 in Archer’s last seven turns. Houston, meanwhile, is 4-1 in its previous five home games with McHugh starting.
Writer’s Prediction
The Rays (-101) get the last laugh with a 4-3 victory.
