The somewhat surprising Minnesota Twins (13-12 SU, +3.51 Units) have been dominating at home this season. They'll look to continue that dominance against the Oakland Athletics (11-15 SU, -6.75 Units) on Tuesday night.
ODDS ANALYSIS
Very quietly, the Twins have turned out to be one of the best home teams in baseball so far in 2015. Their 9-4 record will probably turn the wrong direction at some point, but for the time being, they are +6.40 units at home, which is more than most teams can say in the bigs.
In fact, there are only three teams (Dodgers, Cardinals and Mets) who have better home marks for bettors, and those are the only three teams in the game who have more than Minnesota's nine home wins thus far in 2015.
PITCHING MATCHUP
The A's haven't formally announced a starter for this game as of Sunday evening, but all signs point to Jesse Chavez getting the nod.
Chavez was tattooed by the Halos on Tuesday, giving up four runs in just five innings of work, and he definitively doesn’t have his best stuff at the moment. The righty does have just a 2.55 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP thus far on the campaign, but he is much better served as a reliever than he is as a starter.
Two starts ago, Trevor May was hit on the elbow with a line drive, but he rebounded nicely in his last start on schedule against the White Sox. The 25-year old held the Sox to just two runs over 5.2 innings, though the fact that he "scattered" 10 hits in that stretch has to be tremendously concerning.
Still, May has shown much better control of his pitches here in the bigs this season (three walks in 20.1 innings) than he did at the end of last season when he was called up from the minors (22 walks in 45.2 innings). That's a good sign for him going forward.
QUOTE TO NOTE
"The last couple days, we've been playing pretty good ball, staying short and two-strike hitting and stuff like that. That's something I've been working on. I'm a work in progress." – Twins veteran outfielder Torii Hunter on his team's hitting prowess of late
SITUATIONAL BETTING
The A's are still going at it without Sean Doolittle in their bullpen, but the fact of the matter is that Tyler Clippard hasn't been afforded many chances to close either. In fact, Oakland as a team has just three saves against four blown saves, so games which are close going into the ninth could be an adventure.
PROP TALK
Minnesota hasn't given up a first inning run in five consecutive games. Meanwhile, the team has only scored a run in the first inning in one of its last five. Yes, it has to be bothersome to expect there not to be a run scored in the first inning of this game, but May has looked more poised on the bump, and Chavez is most certainly stronger in the opening frames than in the latter stages of them. A scoreless first inning has to be at least a 50/50 proposition, and the oddsmakers aren't going to line it that way for sure.
ANALYSIS AND PREDICTION
Oh, those tricky Twinkies! The Twins are coming off of a series where they swept away the White Sox, and they could do a number here on Oakland as well, especially knowing that they’re going to avoid Sonny Gray on this trip.
We're not all that sure that the bats are going to be humming early, but by the time Chavez leaves this game, we expect to see at least one ball exiting the Target Field playing area. This could be a big, emotional win for Minnesota.
Minnesota 6, Oakland 3
The baseball betting odds for this Tuesday game will first be available at BookMaker Sportsbook. BookMaker is going to have multiple betting options available for this televised baseball matchup. Live wagering during commercials offers an adjusted moneyline, individual inning run totals and next hitter results. Log in and start gambling during the game now!
BookMaker offers play-by-play betting odds for live sporting events every day! The user-friendly wagering interface on your smartphone provides an easy way to place bets on the go. Mobile betting lines are updated by the minute so click here to start gambling on thrilling live action at BookMaker Sportsbook! The game between the Oakland Athletics and Minnesota Twins will start at 8:10 p.m. ET on Tuesday, May 5, 2015 at Target Field in Minneapolis, MN. You can watch the contest live on the MLB Network.
