Following a slow start to the season, the Minnesota Twins are now on fire as they head into a three-game road series against the Toronto Blue Jays, which gets underway on Friday night.
Once 7-13, Minnesota has won 15 of its last 17 outings and now boasts a 22-15 record.
The Blue Jays have been going in the other direction. They were 13-10 at one point, but a 4-10 stretch has them at 17-20 overall.
With Friday’s contest set for 7:07 PM ET/6:07 PM CT, it’s time to break down the betting odds and make our best bets.
Minnesota has a good chance to maintain its momentum on Friday.
Joe Ryan is toeing the rubber and he is sporting a solid 3.54 ERA to go along with a 1.01 WHIP. Through 40.2 innings this season, the right-hander boasts an overwhelming 46-to-6 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
The Twins’ lineup doesn’t have any easy matchup on its hands with Blue Jays lefty Yusei Kikuchi, but it may be able to do enough to support Ryan.
Minnesota has scored a whopping 23 runs in the last three games, led primarily by Max Kepler and Ryan Jeffers. Kepler is batting .448 in May with two homers, five RBIs and seven runs scored.
Jeffers is on an eight-game hitting streak and has hit safely in 15 of his last 16 games. During this 16-game surge he has five home runs and eight doubles.
As slight underdogs, the Twins are a great value play against a struggling opponent.
Friday’s showdown in Toronto figures to be an enticing pitching matchup between Ryan and Kikuchi. As mentioned above, Ryan is in fine form and he is facing a Blue Jays club that has scored three runs or fewer in 10 of its last 14 games.
On the bright side for Toronto, Kikuchi has been dealing in 2024. The 32-year-old comes in with a 2.72 ERA and 1.16 WHIP. He has struck out 43 batters while issuing just nine walks in 39.2 innings.
Although 7.5 runs is not a big number, look for Ryan and Kikuchi to keep the bats mostly in check – with the end result being a low-scoring affair.
Carlos Correa has to be chomping at the bit with Kikuchi on the mound for Toronto. Minnesota’s veteran shortstop absolutely owns Kikuchi, having gone 10-for-20 lifetime with two doubles and a home run.
Correa is in good form at the moment, too. The 29-year-old has a hit in six of the last eight games, including a multi-hit performance on Monday against Seattle in which he had an RBI and scored a run. Correa has driven in at least one run in four of the last eight games.
With a hot bat and a favorable matchup, Correa has awesome value at +195 to record at least one RBI on Friday.
Minnesota Twins | -105 ML |
Toronto Blue Jays | -115 ML |
Run Line | TOR Blue Jays -1.5 |
Total | O/U 7.5 |
Ryan Jeffers (MIN Twins | +425 |
Carlos Correa (MIN Twins) | +500 |
Jose Miranda (MIN Twins) | +500 |
Danny Jansen (TOR Blue Jays) | +350 |
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (TOR Blue Jays) | +400 |
Justin Turner (TOR Blue Jays) | +450 |
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This article was written by a partner sports writer via Spotlight Sports Group. All odds displayed on this page were correct at the time of writing and are subject to withdrawal or change at any time.
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