Diamondbacks vs Twins Betting Preview: Twins Look to Tame Visiting Diamondbacks

American League Central Division-Leading Minnesota Looks to Keep on Hitting

The Minnesota Twins have opened up some space over second-place Cleveland in the American League Central Division race with the Arizona Diamondbacks trying to stay within range in the National League playoff race. The Diamondbacks vs Twins betting preview favors the Twins in the series opener.

When looking at the MLB standings, Arizona is 1.5 games out of the final playoff spot in the National League.

Arizona won two of the three games when the teams played a season ago. Both teams finished with 15 runs in the three games. Minnesota is priced at -125 to win on Friday with the total set at 8.5.

Minnesota is 30-24 at home this season with Arizona 29-25 on the road. Arizona is 32-22 against the spread on the road in 2023 with Minnesota eight games under .500 ATS when playing at home.

Minnesota (+3000) is eighth in the odds to win the World Series with Arizona tied with Cincinnati for 14th in the championship odds.

Probable Starting Pitchers

• Friday: Merrill Kelly (Diamondbacks); Bailey Ober (Twins)
• Saturday: Ryne Nelson (Diamondbacks); Kenta Maeda (Twins)
• Sunday: Zac Gallen (Diamondbacks); Pablo Lopez (Twins)

Diamondbacks Coming Up Empty

Arizona would be in trouble without Christian Walker and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. as they are a combined 7-for-19 in the last three games. The rest of the team is batting just .141 in August. That could play a role in the Diamondbacks vs Twins betting preview.

Emmanuel Rivera and Jake McCarthy have combined to go hitless in 13 at-bats, National League Rookie of the Year front-runner Corbin Carroll is hitting .091, Ketel Marte (.111) and Alek Thomas (.125) are also struggling.

Twins Dialing Long Distance

Ten different Minnesota hitters have at least two home runs as the Twins have 29 home runs and 72 extra-base hits over the last 19 games. Keep that in mind when it comes to the Diamondbacks vs Twins betting preview.

Matt Wallner leads the way with five home runs, and Max Kepler, Edouard Julien, and Michael Taylor have each homered three times. One thing to keep in mind is that Alex Kirilloff, who is second on the team with four home runs during that stretch, is on the injured list.

Who’s Hot

• Griffin Jax, Minnesota Twins P: Jax hasn’t allowed a run in his last four games and has allowed five hits over four innings during that stretch.
• Ryan Jeffers, Minnesota Twins C: Jeffers is hitting .400 with four runs, five RBIs, two home runs, and three walks during a seven-game hitting streak.
• Ketel Marte, Arizona Diamondbacks 2B: Marte is batting .354 over his last 14 games with eight runs scored.
• Scott McGough, Arizona Diamondbacks P: McGough has allowed one hit and no runs with four strikeouts in 3.1 innings over his last four games.

Who’s Not

• Carlos Correa, Minnesota Twins SS: Correa is 3 for 23 with 10 strikeouts in his last seven games.
• Tyler Gilbert, Arizona Diamondbacks P: Gilbert has allowed 12 hits and five runs with three walks in six innings in his last four outings.
• Carson Kelly, Arizona Diamondbacks C: Kelly is 3-for-22 with five strikeouts in his last eight games.
• Bailey Ober, Minnesota Twins P: Ober has allowed 23 hits, five home runs, and 12 runs in 16 innings over his last three starts.

Diamondbacks vs Twins Injury Update

Arizona continues to be without infielder Evan Longoria and catcher Gabriel Moreno with Mark Melancon among the pitchers on the injured list.

For Minnesota, designated hitter Byron Buxton is questionable after missing the last two games with a hamstring issue. Outfielder Alex Kirilloff is on the injured list with a shoulder injury.

Diamondbacks vs Twins Betting Preview

Minnesota might want to take care of business early in the series since the Diamondbacks will be throwing ace Zac Gallen in Sunday’s series final. Gallen is due to a strong outing after Arizona lost each of his last four starts. That is not what people expect when looking at the MLB scoreboard during Gallen’s starts.

A quick look at the recent results for MLB teams, Minnesota leads the American League with a .463 slugging percentage since the MLB All-Star Game. It has been more of a grind for the Diamondbacks with a .241 batting average, 154 strikeouts, and a slugging percentage of .397.

Minnesota has won six of the last eight meetings. In the last 13 meetings, the games did not go over or under the total in back-to-back meetings.

The home team has won seven of the last eight games.

The total has gone under in each of Arizona’s last seven games while 14 of Minnesota’s last 20 contests finished over the total.

The teams are 71-49 when listed as the favorite and just 40-54 as the underdog.

For MLB betting news, odds, analysis, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.

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