MLB odds Preview: Twins and Tigers Meet at Top of AL Central
The race in the AL Central Division has become a bit kinky with three-way action between the Minnesota Twins, Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox.
Despite being a proponent of interleague play since 1962, it's still good to see the baseball schedule return to normal this week, the 13th on the 26-week slate. And there's no better way to jump back into it than with a good old-fashioned matchup that puts a division lead on the line.
The Minnesota Twins (41-34) have a tiny little half-game lead in the AL Central over the Detroit Tigers (40-34) when their three-game series opens Monday at Target Field. The Twins' recent trip to Slumpville has opened the door for both the Tigers and Chicago White Sox to make the division a three-way battle.
The ChiSox saw their 11-game win streak end on Sunday in an 8-6 loss to the Cubs. Chicago is 1.5 games behind the Twins with a 39-35 record.
Minnesota has dropped three of its last 10, including being swept in Milwaukee last week before dropping two of three to the Mets in New York over the weekend. The Twins limped through their recent NL stretch 6-9, losing four games in the standings to the Tigers and six to the White Sox in that span.
Ron Gardenhire hopes that a return to their home park, where the Twins are 23-13, will help with a turnaround.
Detroit is up 4.3 units on the season but hasn't exactly been on a tear, dropping four of the first six to start this road trip in losing series at the Mets and Braves. The Tigers will finish the trip with this set.
Jeremy Bonderman (7-6, 4.20) will get the call for Detroit on Monday against Twins southpaw Francisco Liriano (8-6, 3.11). The earliest of MLB odds put Minnesota as the 150-155 favorites with the Tigers in the low plus-140s. The total was eight across the board.
In his last trip to the mound, Bonderman and Detroit dropped a 6-0 decision at the Mets, losing to R.A. Dickey as the slight underdog. That was the fourth time in six outings the Tigers lost one of the right-hander's assignments.
Bonderman missed facing the Twins in the previous two series meetings between the clubs, and last started a game against them in April 2008. This will be his 15th career start versus Minnesota with Detroit 5-9 in the previous 14.
Liriano is looking to stop a two-game skid following losses to the Rockies and at the Brewers. Like Bonderman, the Twins lefty missed both series between the clubs in late-April, early-May. He did pitch Minnesota to a pair of victories over Detroit last season, and the Twins are 3-3 in his career starts against the Tigers.
Minnesota swept the series at Target Field in May, cashing as 135-150 favorites in each game. Detroit took two of three a few days before that set, and the 'under' has a slight 3-2-1 advantage so far in 2010 battles.
The Twins enter the week on a 5-0 'under' run while the Tigers have been bouncing around on the baseball totals board with a 3-3 split on their current road trip.
Monday's forecast for Minneapolis looks very nice with clear skies and a game-time temp in the upper-60s. Winds are presently forecast out of the NNW at 10-15 mph (from 3B coaching box out to RF corner).
The series continues Tuesday when Armando Galarraga (6-1, 3.68) starts for the Tigers against Minnesota's Nick Blackburn (8-6, 6.10).
NOTE: The W-L records shown for starting pitchers are their team's W-L mark when they started games in the 2010 season. Statistical sources for this article were Retrosheet.org, Baseball-Reference.com, ESPN.com and, of course, S-BEE-R-dot-com!
The race in the AL Central Division has become a bit kinky with three-way action between the Minnesota Twins, Detroit Tigers and Chicago White Sox.
Despite being a proponent of interleague play since 1962, it's still good to see the baseball schedule return to normal this week, the 13th on the 26-week slate. And there's no better way to jump back into it than with a good old-fashioned matchup that puts a division lead on the line.
The Minnesota Twins (41-34) have a tiny little half-game lead in the AL Central over the Detroit Tigers (40-34) when their three-game series opens Monday at Target Field. The Twins' recent trip to Slumpville has opened the door for both the Tigers and Chicago White Sox to make the division a three-way battle.
The ChiSox saw their 11-game win streak end on Sunday in an 8-6 loss to the Cubs. Chicago is 1.5 games behind the Twins with a 39-35 record.
Minnesota has dropped three of its last 10, including being swept in Milwaukee last week before dropping two of three to the Mets in New York over the weekend. The Twins limped through their recent NL stretch 6-9, losing four games in the standings to the Tigers and six to the White Sox in that span.
Ron Gardenhire hopes that a return to their home park, where the Twins are 23-13, will help with a turnaround.
Detroit is up 4.3 units on the season but hasn't exactly been on a tear, dropping four of the first six to start this road trip in losing series at the Mets and Braves. The Tigers will finish the trip with this set.
Jeremy Bonderman (7-6, 4.20) will get the call for Detroit on Monday against Twins southpaw Francisco Liriano (8-6, 3.11). The earliest of MLB odds put Minnesota as the 150-155 favorites with the Tigers in the low plus-140s. The total was eight across the board.
In his last trip to the mound, Bonderman and Detroit dropped a 6-0 decision at the Mets, losing to R.A. Dickey as the slight underdog. That was the fourth time in six outings the Tigers lost one of the right-hander's assignments.
Bonderman missed facing the Twins in the previous two series meetings between the clubs, and last started a game against them in April 2008. This will be his 15th career start versus Minnesota with Detroit 5-9 in the previous 14.
Liriano is looking to stop a two-game skid following losses to the Rockies and at the Brewers. Like Bonderman, the Twins lefty missed both series between the clubs in late-April, early-May. He did pitch Minnesota to a pair of victories over Detroit last season, and the Twins are 3-3 in his career starts against the Tigers.
Minnesota swept the series at Target Field in May, cashing as 135-150 favorites in each game. Detroit took two of three a few days before that set, and the 'under' has a slight 3-2-1 advantage so far in 2010 battles.
The Twins enter the week on a 5-0 'under' run while the Tigers have been bouncing around on the baseball totals board with a 3-3 split on their current road trip.
Monday's forecast for Minneapolis looks very nice with clear skies and a game-time temp in the upper-60s. Winds are presently forecast out of the NNW at 10-15 mph (from 3B coaching box out to RF corner).
The series continues Tuesday when Armando Galarraga (6-1, 3.68) starts for the Tigers against Minnesota's Nick Blackburn (8-6, 6.10).
NOTE: The W-L records shown for starting pitchers are their team's W-L mark when they started games in the 2010 season. Statistical sources for this article were Retrosheet.org, Baseball-Reference.com, ESPN.com and, of course, S-BEE-R-dot-com!