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The Twins make the trip to Oakland to face the Athletics! The Twins are having a great season so far, while the Athletics have struggled as one of the worst teams in the MLB. Both teams are coming off losses leading into this matchup. Our MLB odds series has our Twins-Athletics prediction, odds, and pick for Saturday.
Twins-Athletics Projected Starters
Bailey Ober vs. JP Sears
Bailey Ober (6-4) with a 4.81 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP
Last Start: Pitched 6.1 innings and gave up one run on six hits with two walks and eight strikeouts in a Twins win.
2024 Road Splits: (3-3) 5.75 ERA
JP Sears (4-6) with a 4.25 ERA and a 1.25 WHIP
Last Start: Pitched 4.1 innings and gave up four runs on nine hits with four walks and one strikeout in an Athletics loss.
2024 Home Splits: (3-2) 3.31 ERA
Here are the MLB Odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB Odds: Twins-Athletics Odds
Minnesota Twins: -1.5 (+105)
Moneyline: -156
Oakland Athletics: +1.5 (-126)
Moneyline: +132
Over: 8.5 (+100)
Under: 8.5 (-122)
How to Watch Twins vs. Athletics
Time: 4:07 pm ET
Article Continues Below
TV: Bally Sports North / NBC Sports California
Stream: fuboTV (Click for free trial)
Why The Twins Will Cover The Spread/Win
The Twins are 41-34 and have lost two straight leading into this matchup. The Twins are around the middle of the pack and are struggling with their pitching staff. Alex Kirilloff, Edouard Julien, Byron Buxton, Willi Castro, Carlos Santana, and Ryan Jeffers are some notable names on this Minnesota offense despite the struggles. On the mound, Joe Ryan and Simeon Woods Richardson are the names to watch despite the struggles they have dealt with there as a staff.
The Twins are starting Bailey Ober on the mound where he has a 6-4 record, a 4.81 ERA, and a 1.19 WHIP. He has allowed 39 runs on 67 hits with 20 walks and 73 strikeouts through 73 innings. The Twins are 7-7 in the 14 games that he's started so far this season. Ober has had consistency issues this season, which has been the story of the Twins pitching staff so far this season. This is a favorable matchup for him because the Athletics have struggled all year behind the plate.
The offense for the Twins has been around the middle of the pack this season. They have jumped all over the place in the rankings but are 15th in the MLB in team batting average at .245 after finishing with a .243 average last year. Willi Castro, Carlos Santana, Ryan Jeffers, and Carlos Correa lead the way for the Twins in most of their batting categories. Correa leads in batting average at .308 and in OBP at .370. Then, Santana is tied for the lead in home runs at 12 with Jeffers and leads in RBI at 38. Finally, Castro leads in total hits at 69. This offense has struggled to find consistency this season and they get a tough matchup against JP Sears for the Athletics.
Why The Athletic Will Cover The Spread/Win
The Athletics have struggled this season to a 28-49 record. They recently lost a game after winning two straight beforehand. The Athletics have struggled behind the plate and their pitching has not been much better, still ranking near the bottom of the MLB. JJ Bleday, Abraham Toro, Shea Langeliers, and Brent Rooker stand out despite the offense struggling. On the mound, JP Sears and Mitch Spence have been decent despite the staff struggling on the mound. The Athletics are not the disaster they were last season but that's not saying much because the struggles are still there.
The Athletics are starting JP Sears on the mound and he has a 4-6 record, a 4.25 ERA, and a 1.25 WHIP. He has allowed 40 runs on 75 hits with 28 walks and 55 strikeouts through 57 innings this season. In the 15 games that he has started this season, the Athletics are 5-10. He has a favorable matchup in this game against the Twins because they have struggled behind the plate to find anything consistent.
The offense for the Athletics has been awful and is the third-worst in the MLB this season. They are 28th in the MLB in team batting average at .223 after finishing at .222 last season which was the worst in the MLB. JJ Bleday, Abraham Toro, and Brent Rooker lead the team in most batting categories. Rooker leads in batting average at .260, in home runs at 13, and in RBI at 44. Then, Bleday leads in OBP at .342 and Toro leads in total hits at 71. The offense gets an interesting matchup against Ober because of how inconsistent he has been, even though the Athletics have struggled behind the plate.
Final Twins-Athletics Prediction & Pick
The Twins are the better team overall in this game. The Athletics have a slight advantage on the mound with Sears compared to Ober. The Twins have the better offense too because of how bad the Athletics have been all year on offense. The Athletics should keep it close and cover at home, but the Twins might still win.
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Final Twins-Athletics Prediction & Pick: Athletics +1.5 (-126)
