Minnesota Twins vs Houston Astros Prediction: Will Playing Extra Innings Today Affect the Offenses?
Minnesota Twins vs Houston Astros Prediction: Will Playing Extra Innings Today Affect the Offenses?
The Houston Astros have won eight consecutive games and are on the verge of a ninth straight win if they can close out yesterday’s suspended game, where they are leading 5-1 after three innings. During this winning streak, the Astros have four shutouts, including Justin Verlander’s gem in a series-opening 5-0 win. Verlander came within five outs of his fourth career no-hitter, which would have put him in a category with Nolan Ryan and Sandy Koufax as the only pitchers with four or more no-hitters.
Our focus is on the game after the conclusion of yesterday’s suspended game. Provided Houston finishes yesterday’s game with a win, will they complete the road sweep of Minnesota? Will either offense have enough juice left after playing six extra innings today?
Read on for our best play in today’s series finale between the Astros and Twins. Here are the odds for the Minnesota Twins vs. Houston Astros.
Twins vs. Astros Start Time and Where to Watch
- Date: May 12, 2022
- Game Time: 12:10 pm ET
- Where to Watch: MLB Extra Innings
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Houston Astros vs. Minnesota Twins Prediction
Minnesota has struggled offensively in the absence of two of its best hitters, Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton. Correa landed on the 10-day IL Tuesday with a bruised right middle finger, and Byron Buxton has missed two games this week with a hip injury but attempted to play through it yesterday as he was slotted into the leadoff spot. The Twins were still 3-1 on their current homestand entering yesterday despite the injuries.
Luis Garcia (2-1, 3.45) has started the season similarly to last year’s campaign that earned him a second-place finish in the Rookie of the Year voting. Through five starts, Garcia’s 0.872 WHIP is remarkably better than last year’s 1.178 clip, and his K: BB ratio is up to 4:1 compared to the previous year’s 3.34:1 rate. And while his hard-hit rate (40%) is the highest of his three years in the big leagues, his 12% line drive percentage is by far the lowest of his young career. Garcia does not mind pitching on the road either, as he is over .500 both in his career home and road starts.
Though only 25 years old, Garcia has already proven himself on the biggest stage, as he was a key part of the rotation in last year’s postseason run. The same cannot be said for Minnesota’s Josh Winder (2-0, 1.61), as the 25-year-old is making just his sixth career appearance and third start. However, Winder leads all Twins pitchers in WAR (0.9) and all starting pitchers in WHIP (0.72), and there should be no fear of Winder not being stretched out as he has averaged more than 81 pitches per start. He has allowed just three earned runs in 11 innings at home this season, despite two of those appearances coming against some of the major’s best offensive teams (Dodgers and White Sox).
The under is 7-2-1 in the last ten meetings between these teams and is 5-1 in the previous six in Minnesota. The under is also 5-0 in Houston’s last five against teams with winning records and is 3-0-1 in Minnesota’s last four home games. We like all of those trends to continue this afternoon.
Houston Astros vs. Minnesota Twins Pick
PICK: Astros-Twins UNDER 8.5 Runs (-110) (Bet $110 to win $100)
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