Twins Face Tigers In Battle Of AL Central Rivals
Twins vs Tigers Prediction For Series Gives Edge to Visitors

2024 MLB Wild Card Race
A pair of AL Central squads looking to make a playoff push square off this weekend, as the Detroit Tigers host the Minnesota Twins for a three-game series. This will be the final regular-season matchup between the two teams, as the season series is currently tied at five wins apiece.
Minnesota (56-45) is coming off a series win over the MLB-best Philadelphia Phillies, taking two out of three at home. The Twins are in second place in the MLB division standings, sitting 4.5 games behind the first-place Cleveland Guardians, but they are currently in the second Wild Card spot in the American League, one game ahead of the Kansas City Royals.
Any MLB playoff predictor is including the Twins in the postseason party this season.
Detroit earned a split of a four-game road series with the Guardians with a 3-0 win on Thursday. The Tigers (51-53) are in fourth place in the AL Central, 5.5 games behind the third-place Royals, which is also how far back they are in the Wild Card race.
The MLB odds for Friday’s series opener favor the visiting Twins, who are listed at -165 on the moneyline. The Tigers are getting +145 odds to earn the straight-up win, with their MLB implied runs much less than the Twins.
If your Twins vs Tigers prediction is on the run line, you can get Detroit at -120 when getting 1.5 runs, while Minnesota is even odds when giving those runs. The over/under for the game has been set at eight runs, with -110 odds on either side of that wager.
The series opener is set for a 6:40 p.m. ET first pitch on Friday night, followed by a 6:10 p.m. ET contest on Saturday. The series will wrap up with a 1:40 p.m. game on Sunday, with all contests being played at Comerica Park in Detroit.
Twins vs Tigers 
📊Records: Minnesota Twins (56-45), Detroit Tigers (51-53)
⏰Day/Time:
📍Location: Comerica Park in Detroit, Michigan
📺Streaming: BSN
Pitching Matchups
Game 1: Pablo Lopez (Minnesota) vs Keider Montero (Detroit)
The Twins will start the series with Pablo Lopez on the mound making the start. The right-hander is 8-7 with a 4.86 ERA, striking out 128 in 111 innings of work over 20 starts. Lopez was very good in his last start, going seven innings against the Milwaukee Brewers last Saturday and allowing one run on four hits while striking out seven and walking one.
Righty Keider Montero will make his sixth start and seventh appearance of his MLB rookie campaign in the opener. Montero is 1-3 with a 5.97 ERA, striking out 26 in 31.2 innings. He’s struggled in his last two outings, allowing five runs in each. His last start came against the Toronto Blue Jays last weekend, as he lasted 5.1 innings and gave up five runs on eight hits, including a pair of home runs.
Game 2: Joe Ryan (Minnesota) vs Tarik Skubal (Detroit)
Right-hander Joe Ryan will get the call for the Twins for Saturday’s contest. The veteran is 6-6 with a 3.65 ERA, recording 130 strikeouts over 120.2 innings in 20 starts. Ryan has had his troubles over his last three starts, giving up an average of four runs an outing. He went six innings against Milwaukee on Sunday, allowing four runs on seven hits while striking out six and walking none.
The Tigers will have their ace, lefty Tarik Skubal, getting the start on Saturday. The 27-year-old ranks second in baseball with a 2.34 ERA, putting together an 11-3 record and tying for fifth in the majors with 146 strikeouts.
He earned the win in his last start, going seven innings against the Guardians on Monday and allowing one run on 10 hits while striking out six and walking one. Many MLB teams are trying to improve their MLB World Series odds by trading for the All-Star, but for now, he’s the Tigers’ anchor of their rotation.
Game 3: Bailey Ober (Minnesota) vs Undecided (Detroit)
Minnesota will go with right-hander Bailey Ober for the series finale on Sunday. Ober is 9-5 with a 4.04 ERA, recording 110 strikeouts in 107 innings. He’s coming off a win against the Phillies on Monday in which he went seven innings and allowed two runs on seven hits while striking out four and walking one.
Detroit may have its third bullpen game of the week and may give the start in Sunday’s game to reliever Tyler Horton, who started two of the four games against the Guardians this week.
Horton hasn’t allowed a run in his last 12 appearances and has become the go-to guy to start bullpen games for the Tigers. Detroit is struggling with MLB injuries to its starting rotation, so Horton has been a welcome asset.
Twins Have Edge At The Plate
The Twins have the advantage in offensive firepower this season, ranking seventh in baseball in scoring with 489 runs. Detroit is tied for 16th in the majors with 445 runs.
Outfielder Max Kepler had the big hit in Wednesday’s 5-4 win over Philadelphia, driving in the winning run with an infield single. Kepler also notched his 500th career RBI in the game.
Kepler is on a five-game hitting streak, and he is batting .263 with 17 doubles, a triple, six home runs, 35 RBI and 36 runs scored.
The Tigers’ big hitter this season has been All-Star outfielder Riley Greene, who leads the team in many offensive categories. He’s batting .264 with 21 doubles, five triples, 17 home runs, 51 RBI and 57 runs scored, though he’s trying to break out of a slump that has seen him go 2-for-17 since the MLB All-Star break.
Tigers Can’t Score Enough vs Twins
These teams have gone back and forth in their season series, splitting the wins and losses no matter what venue they’ve played in. Unfortunately for Detroit, it just isn’t going to have enough scoring ability against a solid Twins rotation in this series.
Our Twins vs Tigers prediction has Minnesota taking two of the three games to earn the season series. The Twins have the edge on the mound when Skubal isn’t making the start for Detroit, and that’s going to be the deciding factor.
Twins vs Tigers Odds
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