Having lost four of five and the last three overall to Detroit, the Minnesota Twins continue an eight-game road swing with a visit to the Toronto Blue Jays Friday. These teams haven’t yet matched up this season, but Toronto won their two most recent meetings last September.
The Twins (30-23) lead Cleveland by 4.5 games in the American League Central despite dropping seven of their last 10, all against divisional foes Detroit or Kansas City.
Toronto (30-20) has been red-hot, ripping off eight consecutive victories — including sweeps of the Los Angeles Angels and Chicago White Sox. In all but one of those triumphs, they posted at least six runs. The Blue Jays sit 5.5 games back of the New York Yankees for the AL East lead.
Of players with a minimum of 18 plate appearances over the past week, catcher Alejandro Clark paces Toronto with a .444 batting average and eight runs scored. Both he and left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. drove six runs across during that stint.
The Blue Jays have hit .250 while at home. They’re in the top third in terms of swinging the bat in the AL, yet their 198 total runs are the sixth-fewest in the major leagues.
Center fielder George Springer, shortstop Bo Bichette, and first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. have accounted for a good deal of Toronto’s production, each having recorded 26 RBIs so far. Bichette’s 53 total knocks are tops on the team.
Twins at Blue Jays Odds
MLB odds have the Blue Jays as the favorite to keep it rolling. Toronto is -1.5 on the run line at -110, while the Twins are +130 to cover the spread.
On the moneyline, the Blue Jays are -220 and Minnesota a +184 underdog. The total has been set at 9.5 runs, with the over being -110 and the under the same at the time of this writing.
In terms of MLB betting trends, Minnesota has a solid enough offense to snap out of it. The Twins are hitting .244, which is the fourth-best in the AL. Only Boston and Los Angeles have piled up more than their 215 RBIs.
Second baseman Luis Arraez paces the crew with a .340 batting average — the fifth-highest in the bigs. He also has the best on-base percentage (.429) and most total hits (52) of any Twin.
Meanwhile, shortstop Jorge Polanco has 26 runs driven in. Catcher Gary Sanchez and right fielder Max Kepler follow closely behind, with 25 each.
Matchup Information
Twins at Blue Jays Betting Preview
The guests will send right-hander Chi Chi Gonzalez to the hill. It will be his first start of 2022. He has a career 5.54 ERA and a 9-23 record, neither of which is all that inspiring against the Blue Jays order.
On the road a season ago, Gonzalez only had one win in nine starts.
Yusei Kikuchi, a fourth-year pro who’s in his first go-round with the Blue Jays, will look to out-pitch the Twins’ starter.
Kikuchi has a 3.48 ERA and went at least five frames in four of his five starts in May. Against the Angels last Saturday, he worked for five innings, giving up two earned runs on nine base hits. Toronto wound up winning, 6-5, in Anaheim.
At home this year, Kikuchi is 2-0 in four appearances.
Twins at Blue Jays Betting Predictions
Being that this is Gonzalez’s first outing since last season — and against a capable lineup to boot — Toronto has the upper hand here. Expect Blue Jays hitters such as Bichette and Guerrero Jr. to take advantage of the visiting hurler’s rust.
Toronto has started to figure it out as they chase the Yankees in the grouping. MLB picks today will go with the Blue Jays to stretch their win string at the expense of a Minnesota squad that has cooled off.
Pick the Blue Jays to cover tonight’s spread while betting on baseball.
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