Both Minnesota and Detroit got an extra day to return from the All-Star break, with Friday a scheduled off day. That rest proved very beneficial for the Twins, who captured an 8-4 win on Saturday after going into the downtime with an 11-0 loss to the White Sox last Sunday.
Now Minnesota aims for the quick two-game sweep in the July 24th Twins at Tigers betting matchup. Oddsmakers have the Twins as -170 favorites in Sunday’s contest with Detroit going just 2-8 over their last 10 games. 86% of the betting public is on Minnesota, is there anything to justify a play on the Tigers?
Minnesota Got Out of the Gate Strong
The Twins looked good on Saturday, belting out 11 hits en route to the 8-4 win as -166 favorites. Luis Arraez had 3 hits to push his MLB leading average to .342 while Carlos Correa added his 12th HR of the season. Minnesota is now 7-5 against the Tigers this season, with Saturday’s win breaking a three game losing streak.
Minnesota is a whopping -170 favorite in the July 24th Twins at Tigers matchup, but they are just 4-6 over their last 10. Minnesota also went just 1-4 in their last trip to Comerica Park from May 30th to June 2nd.
Despite some recent struggles one big reason to like the Twins on Sunday is because they have Sonny Gray (4-3, 3.71 ERA) on the hill. Then again the right-hander has had two rough outings in a row, giving up 5ER in a loss to the Rangers and then 6ER in a loss to the White Sox. Gray pitched 7 innings of shutout ball with 10 K’s in his only meeting with Detroit back on May 24th.
Can Tigers Cash at +141
Detroit scored 4 runs on 6 hits in Saturday’s loss coming out of the All-Star break. That’s not a bad offensive performance for a team that had been shut out in three of their previous five games, and are the worst offensive team in MLB averaging just 3.14 runs/game.
Now the Tigers will try to get to Gray, who has allowed 11 ER over his last 8.1 IP. Miguel Cabrera is 5-14 in his career vs. Gray with a HR and Jonathan Schoop is 8-21 with 3 doubles against the Minnesota starter. Harold Castro has been Detroit’s best hitter as of late going 10 for his last 28, and in fact he’s the only batter hitting better than .265 over the past 10 games.
Detroit has won three straight Rony Garcia (3-2, 4.28 ERA) starts, a trend they would like to continue on Sunday. That being said his last outing was also on June 29th, as he’s missed nearly a month with shoulder inflammation. Garcia allowed 6 ER over 5.0 IP in a start against Minnesota at the end of May and has an 8.00 ERA in two starts against the Twins this season.
Free July 24th Twins at Tigers Betting Pick
The Twins haven’t been playing exceptionally well as of late – but neither have the Tigers. The betting public is all over Minnesota in this one which is a concern, but at the very least we should see some runs scored from both sides on Sunday with Gray struggling and Garcia making his first start in nearly a month.
Free Pick: Over 8.5
