On Monday, a new series begins with the Minnesota Twins visiting the Seattle Mariners. Despite being atop their division, the Twins are listed as road underdogs on Monday with a moneyline of +105 compared to Seattle’s moneyline of -125. The game also has an over/under of 8.5 runs.
The Twins head to Seattle with a 5-6 record during the month of June. In fairness, they’ve spent most of the month playing the Blue Jays, Yankees, and Rays, so they’ve held their own against some of the best teams in the American League. More importantly, Minnesota retains a three-game lead at the top of the AL Central.
Meanwhile, the Mariners are 6-5 in June, which is an improvement for them after a terrible May. However, they dropped two of three against the Red Sox over the weekend and are hoping to start stringing some wins together during their current 11-game homestand.
Seattle is six games under .500 and ten games out of first place in the AL West, so there is some level of urgency for the Mariners to get on track before the all-star break.
Flex Those Muscles
The Mariners will look to Chris Flexen to help deliver a win in Monday’s series opener. After winning 14 games in a breakout season last year, it’s been a struggle for Flexen in 2022, going 2-7 with a 4.35 ERA. However, things are getting better with Flexen lowering his ERA by more than half a point over his last three starts, although the Mariners are just 3-8 in the games he’s started this season.
Meanwhile, the Mariners were the victims of a shutout on Sunday, although they are still averaging 4.3 runs per game over their last seven games.
Ty France and J.P. Crawford are both having strong seasons that will give them all-star consideration this season. On the other hand, key figures in Seattle’s lineup like Jesse Winker, Adam Frazier, and Eugenio Suarez have all hit a slump over the past week.
The Archer
Minnesota will counter Flexen with Chris Archer. The Twins currently have seven starting pitchers on the IL, although Archer has been a steady and reliable presence in the rotation this year, going 1-2 with a 3.65 ERA over 11 starts. The caveat with Archer is that he’s only completed five innings in two of his 11 starts, although he’s done that in his two most recent starts while allowing just two runs o five hits over those ten innings.
Much like the Mariners, the Twins were held without a run on Sunday, although they are still averaging 6.2 runs per game over their last nine games.
Byron Buxton and Luis Arraez both look like potential all-stars, while Carlos Correa has also been productive when healthy. In fact, all three had been scorching hot before Sunday’s game, while Jorge Polanco is also in a groove at the plate.
Road Dogs
It’s rare to see a first-place team as an underdog against a team with a losing record. While Flexen has been a little better lately, Minnesota has a better lineup and is more likely to bounce back from a shutout defeat on Sunday.
There is too much value with the Twins as an underdog not to take a chance on them.
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