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A battle for first place in the AL Central Division is on the line starting Tuesday when the Cleveland Indians visit the Minnesota Twins. The Twins are up by a game in the division and favored on the MLB odds for this one.

How to Bet Guardians at Twins MLB Odds & TV Info

When: Tuesday, 7:40 PM ET
Where: Target Field
Probable pitchers (away/home): Aaron Civale/Joe Ryan
TV: MLB Extra Innings
Stream/gameday audio: https://www.mlb.com/live-stream-games/
Opening MLB Lines: Twins -160, Guardians +150 (total 8.5)

Why Bet on Cleveland?

The Guardians have won six of seven and impressively took two of three at the Dodgers over the weekend with a 5-3 win in the finale Sunday. Andrés Giménez drove in the go-ahead run with the bases-loaded in the ninth inning, and Oscar Gonzalez hit his first major league homer and scored the winning run. The rookie right fielder has at least one hit in 18 of his first 22 career games.

Emmanuel Clase struck out a batter in a perfect ninth Sunday against the Dodgers — his 15th save of the season. Clase earned his eighth save since June 3. He got Justin Turner to lineout, struck out Eddy Alvarez on a 100-mph cutter, and got Gavin Lux to groundout to secure the win for the Guardians.

Since May 23, Cleveland’s bullpen has pitched to a to a 1.64 ERA, the lowest mark in the majors in that span. The unit also ranks highly in that span in strikeouts-per-9.0 (1st, 11.10), opp. OBP (3rd, .270), opp. avg. (3rd, .189) and hits allowed-per-9.0 (3rd, 6.18). Cleveland is 17-8 in that stretch.

All-Star third baseman Jose Ramirez was out of the lineup Sunday for the second straight game because of right thumb soreness and it’s not clear if he will play Tuesday. They were the first two games Ramirez has missed this season. Ernie Clement got the start at third base for the second straight game and went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Ramirez, who has an eight-game hitting streak, leads the American League with 62 RBIs and his .305 batting average is eighth in the AL.

The Guardians are expected to activate DH Franmil Reyes (hamstring) from the 10-day injured list ahead of Tuesday’s series opener. Reyes is expected to rejoin the Guardians after completing a five-game rehab assignment at Triple-A Columbus last week in which he went 9-for-21 with two home runs, a double, six RBI and four walks. He has been out since late May.

Aaron Civale (glute) will return to the Guardians’ starting rotation on Tuesday. He has been out since late May due to a left glute issue. The 26-year-old righty has struggled to a 7.84 ERA, 1.52 WHIP and 30/9 K/BB ratio across 31 innings (seven starts) this season. Civale completed his second rehab start with Triple-A Columbus last Wednesday, striking out seven over 4.2 innings while giving up an unearned run on two hits, a walk and two hit batsmen.

Why Bet on Minnesota?

The Twins have alternated wins and losses in their past eight and come off a 7-1 loss at Arizona on Sunday. Third baseman Jose Miranda went 2-for-3 with two singles in Sunday’s loss. Miranda hit a one-out 102.2 mph single to left field in the top of the third, and he lined a 95.5 mph single to left field to lead off the top of the sixth. The rookie is 24-for-70 (.343) with three home runs since May 20. Outfielder Kyle Garlick was activated from the 10-day injured lit before the game. He had missed nearly two weeks with a hamstring injury.

Minnesota infielder Luis Arraez is having a terrific season. Arraez is leading the AL in batting average (.361) and on-base percentage (.443) by healthy margins, doing enough with his extreme on-base ability to offset his relative lack of power. He has been the ultimate table-setter for one of MLB’s most productive offenses.

Over his last 162 games, Byron Buxton is hitting .272 with 41 doubles, 52 home runs, 96 RBI, a .611 slugging percentage and a .932 OPS. He is the fourth player in Twins history (since 1961) to hit 50-plus homers in a 162-game span, joining Nelson Cruz, Roy Sievers and Harmon Killebrew.

In the Twins’ 38 wins this season, they’re averaging 6.4 runs per game. In their 30 losses, they’re averaging 1.9 runs per game. Minnesota’s lone run on Sunday came in the first inning, when Arraez opened the game with a double and came in to score on a Carlos Correa double play.

It’s stellar young right-hander Joe Ryan (5-3) on the mound Tuesday. Ryan allowed four runs on five hits over 4 2/3 innings in last Tuesday’s loss to the Mariners. Ryan struck out three and walked one in the loss. His big issue was the home run ball, with Eugenio Suárez and Ty France clocking two-run taters off the 26-year-old. He will carry a 2.81 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and 45/15 K/BB ratio into Tuesday.

He is 2-0, 1.00 ERA (18.0 IP, 2 ER) in three career starts against the Guardians, allowing one-or-fewer earned runs in each. Ryan earned a 3-1 victory May 15 at Target Field opposite Triston McKenzie (6.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R/ER, 0 BB, 5 K, career-high 103 pitches).