The Detroit Tigers (20-13) returned to winning ways with a nerve-wracking one-run victory over the Minnesota Twins (18-15) on Tuesday night. Ian Kinsler delivered the game-winning hit for the Tigers who have now won five in a row against Minnesota at Tiger Stadium.
Can the Tigers continue their dominance of the Twins tonight? Read on below for a breakdown of this AL Central matchup and while you’re at it, you can check out our preview of the game between the New York Mets and the Chicago Cubs here.
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Minnesota Twins vs. Detroit Tigers Preview
Where: Tiger Stadium, Detroit
When: Wednesday, May 13, 7:08 PM ET
Line: Minnesota Twins (+134) at Detroit Tigers (-144); total – 9.0 – view all MLB lines
Betting on the Minnesota Twins
Minnesota’s scoring woes against Detroit continued on Tuesday as the Twins suffered a stinging 2-1 defeat to the Tigers in 10 innings. The Twins have been among baseball’s most productive clubs this season but for some reason they have struggled to put runs on the board against the AL Central-leading Tigers.
[sc:MLB240banner ]Minnesota entered the game having won nine of its last 11 games, going 42 for 122 (.344) with runners in scoring position. They were shut down, however, in the series opener against the Tigers, going just 0 for 8 in those situations. The Twins are averaging just 2.3 runs against the Tigers this season, losing six of their seven meetings. That’s way below their scoring average of 5.2 runs per game against other teams.
The Twins will look to get their bats going tonight when they take on Detroit starter Kyle Lobstein. The Twins will fancy their chances of doing just that as they torched him for six runs over 4 2/3 innings in their last meeting on September 27. Minnesota won that game, 12-3.
That will be crucial for Minnesota as their starter Ricky Nolasco (2-1, 9.00 ERA) has struggled of late. Although he won his last two starts since returning from an elbow injury, he did give up seven runs over 10 innings in those two contests. Fortunately for Nolasco, the Twins backed him up offensively, scoring a combined 11 runs in those two games.
The Twins are 4-2 in their last six road games.
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Betting on the Detroit Tigers
The Detroit Tigers finally snapped their two-game losing streak with a thrilling 2-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night. Ian Kinsler was the hero for the Tigers as he delivered the game-winning hit in the 10th inning – a bloop single that brought Anthony Gose home from second.
Those two players are expected to play major roles for the Tigers tonight. Gose has been on fire of late, going 12 for 29 with four doubles in his last seven games. He went 2-of-4 on Tuesday night. Kinsler, on the other hand, just had his fifth multi-hit game in his last eight meetings with Minnesota. Kinsler will be licking his chops at the prospect of facing Nolasco tonight as he has fared extremely well against the right-hander in his career. He is 6 of 14 lifetime against Nolasco with three doubles.
What proved to be the difference in the series opener, however, was the excellent pitching performance of starter Alfredo Simon. He allowed just one run on six hits in 7.2 innings against the Twins on Tuesday. Manager Brad Ausmus will look for Kyle Lobstein (3-2, 3.00 ERA) to give Detroit another quality start later tonight.
The left-hander was superb in his last outing, throwing a career-high 7.2 innings in Detroit’s 4-1 win against the Chicago White Sox on Thursday. Lobstein didn’t surrender an earned run in that game, the first time he has done so in his entire career.
Key to Lobstein’s recent success is his excellent groundball rate. Although he only has 15 strikeouts in his last 33 innings, his 58.3 groundball percentage is one of the highest in the American League this season.
The total has gone under in Detroit’s last three home games.
