The Toronto Blue Jays (65-70) and Minnesota Twins (72-61) meet Friday to open a 3-Game weekend series in Minneapolis. The 1st pitch for the series opener is slated for 8:10 p.m. ET. Let’s analyze FanDuel Sportsbook’s lines around the Blue Jays vs. Twins odds and make our expert MLB picks and predictions for the best bets.
Season series: Twins lead 2-1
Toronto is coming off a 2-2 split with the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. The Blue Jays scored just 5 runs in 3 of the games, but over that stretch they had 19 hits and 7 walks. Their offense was undone by a 2-for-21 performance with runners in scoring position.
Minnesota has squandered a chance to overtake the scuffling Cleveland Guardians by going just 2-8 over its last 10 games. That includes 4 straight losses, all of which have come at Target Field.
Blue Jays at Twins projected starters
RHP Kevin Gausman vs. RHP Pablo Lopez
Gausman (12-9, 4.1 ERA) is making his 27th start. He owns a 1.22 WHIP, 2.6 BB/9 and 8.4 K/9 in 151 1/3 IP.
- Last outing: Win, 7 IP, 1 ER, 2 H, 0 BB, 10 K in 8-2 win vs. Los Angeles Angels Sunday
- Career vs. Twins: 1-4, 6.94 ERA (59 2/3 IP, 46 ER), 77 H, 20 BB, 71 K in 12 starts
- Has yielded a .606 OPS while pitching to a 3.13 ERA over his last 9 starts
Lopez (12-8, 4.26 ERA) is making his 27th start. He has a 1.14 WHIP, 2.0 BB/9 and 9.8 K/9 in 148 IP.
- Last outing: Win, 7 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 9 K in 6-0 win vs. St. Louis Cardinals Saturday
- Career vs. Blue Jays: 1-0, 5.59 ERA, 9 IP, 10 H, 6 ER, 4 BB, 15 K in 2 starts
- Has not allowed a run over his last 13 IP
Who’s going yard? Here’s a breakdown of today’s best home run props with our top picks. Include the BetMGM bonus code SBWIRE to score a $1,500 first-bet offer.
Blue Jays at Twins odds
Provided by FanDuel Sportsbook; access USA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub for a full list. Lines last updated at 9:41 a.m. ET.
- Moneyline: Blue Jays +134 (bet $100 to win $134) | Twins -158 (bet $158 to win $100)
- Run line (RL)/Against the spread (ATS): Blue Jays +1.5 (-164) | Twins -1.5 (+136)
- Over/Under (O/U): 8 (O: -110 | U: -110)
Blue Jays at Twins picks and predictions
Prediction
Twins 4, Blue Jays 3
Moneyline
The Twins are 7-3 in their last 10 games against Toronto. Before its recent slide at home, Minnesota had been 10-3 at Target Field since the break.
Per ESPN, current Twins batters own a robust .871 OPS against Gausman, whose recent surge has been very much fueled by a low batting average on balls in play.
Lopez has season numbers that swing the other way, and from an analytics standpoint he’s a significantly better hurler than what shows in his surface line.
Look for the Twins to rebound from their recent missteps after an off day. BetMGM Sportsbook has the better leverage line here: BACK THE TWINS (-150).
Run line/Against the spread
Better value on the ML play: PASS.
Over/Under
The Under has cashed in 5 of Toronto’s last 6 road games and in 5 of the club’s last 6 contests at Target Field. The last 5 overall series meetings have also hit the Under.
The pitching, some tilt in Minnesota’s defense/pitching numbers toward lower scores and a reset of the Twins bullpen after an off day all make for value on the UNDER 8 (-110).
Play our free daily Pick’em Challenge and win! Play now!
For more sports betting picks and tips, check out SportsbookWire.com and BetFTW. Follow SportsbookWire on Twitter/X and like us on Facebook.
Fantasy baseball help from BaseballHQ.com:
Subscribe now to dominate the competition.
