Continuing their long weekend series in the Bronx, the Minnesota Twins and New York Yankees are the leadoff wager on Saturday’s baseball betting card.
Saturday, August 21, 2021 – 1:05 PM EDT at Yankee Stadium
Thursday’s series opener found New York on the right side of the MLB scores with a 7-5 triumph. A big third inning was behind the Yankees building an early 6-0 lead, which proved too big of a deficit for Minnesota to overcome. It was the third time in four meetings for New York to prevail, all four of the matchups this season going ‘over’ the marks, and the ninth time in the last 10 clashes for the total to be breached.
A nice pitching matchup is in store for those tuning into the FS1 broadcast, Kenta Maeda (6-4, 4.41) for the visitors and Gerrit Cole (11-6, 3.04) for the home side. Once numbers are released Friday afternoon at top online betting sites, we expect the Yankees to be heavily favored with the total in the 8½-9 range.
Column Minnesota may be doomed to watch the playoffs from home this fall, but the Twins have been playing better in August and arrived in New York with four consecutive series wins. Three of those sets were against playoff contenders – Houston Astros, Chicago White Sox and Tampa Bay Rays – and the tough stretch on the schedule continues after this series with a stop in Boston next week before heading home to host the Milwaukee Brewers.
Originally in line for his turn in the Minnesota rotation on Thursday, Maeda was pushed back a couple of days. He was outstanding a week ago at home with six shutout innings against the Rays, the 12-0 win over Tampa Bay coming in a game that closed right around a pick on the MLB betting odds. It was the third consecutive Minnesota win with Maeda on the hill, and the Twins tallied a combine 26 runs on their side of the MLB scoreboard in the three contests.
Maeda missed the Yankees when the clubs met in Minneapolis about 10 weeks ago, and Saturday is going to be his first-ever start against New York. It will be his third matchup against an AL East club this season, splitting the previous two with the forementioned win over Tampa Bay and a loss at the hands of Boston in mid-April. DJ LeMahieu is the New York hitter with the most experience against Maeda, batting .238 (5-21) with one homer.
When we think back to the devastating loss in the Field of Dreams game last week, it’s no small feat New York was able to quickly put that out of mind and reel off 7-straight wins entering Friday’s matchup. Doing that while the bullpen has been shaky only adds to the accomplishment.
Activated Monday from the injured list following a positive virus test, Cole made it almost through the sixth on 90 pitches in a 2-1 win over the Angels. He allowed one run in the 5.2 frames, with New York closing as prohibitive -280 chalk at Intertops (visit our Intertops Review) for the contest. The outing came after some struggles in July when the Yankees went 2-3 in his five starts while Cole pitched to a 4.71 ERA for the month.
Cole beat the Twins in Minnesota back in June, logging six innings and allowing two runs to go with nine strikeouts and no walks. That was just his second career assignment against the Twins after beating them with seven shutout innings while pitching for Houston in 2019. New York is just 5-6 in Cole’s 11 starts at Yankee Stadium this season despite his fine 2.60 ERA.
Anytime Angel Hernandez is part of the umpiring crew, there’s added mystery to a game. When Hernandez is at the dish, that mystery is even more magnified. Saturday will be the 22nd plate assignment of the season for the 30-year veteran, ‘over’ bettors getting paid 13 times in the first 21. Home teams are a sluggish 9-12 when Hernandez is behind the mask, but 4-2 when they’re -180 chalk or higher.
With Hurricane Henri out in the Atlantic, bettors will want to get a weather update before making their wagers. Right now, everything looks fine for Saturday with sunny skies, the thermometer in the upper-60s and a 12-15 mph westerly blow (out to center). I’m going to take a flyer on the visitors with my MLB pick in the afternoon clash.
MLB Pick: Twins (+196) with BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review)
*The line and/or odds on picks in this article might have moved since the content was commissioned. For updated line movements, visit BMR’s free betting odds product.