The addition of the Wild Card to the sport of baseball has made the season all the more exciting. Purists of the game may still hate it, but one look at the race in the AL makes it clear why the Wild Card is so much fun. Two teams, the Baltimore Orioles and Minnesota Twins, very much in the thick of things will hook up for a 4-game MLB betting series in Baltimore starting on Thursday night.
A Quick Preview of the Minnesota Twins at Baltimore Orioles MLB Lines Pick & TV Info
Date: Thursday, August 20, 2015 Time: 7:05PM Venue: Camden Yards Opening Line: Baltimore -146
Hailey Dawson’s first pitch to her favorite player, complete with fist bump and a hug. Watch: http://t.co/rnzvzrA6in pic.twitter.com/PQWPNGmaVP
— Baltimore Orioles (@Orioles) August 18, 2015
The Minnesota Twins (59-60) are barely hanging in there after a stretch of games that has seen them fall 3 games off the pace in the Wild Card. Winning on the road has been tough for the Twins, and they have only managed a 21-36 record away from home this season. That meant they would likely have a tough go of things with a 10-game trip that sees them play 3 teams from the AL East. They will finish up a series with the Yankees on Wednesday, and are in serious danger of being swept.
The pitchers continue to struggle, and have given up 16 runs in the opening two games in New York. If that trend continues through the rest of this road trip, the Twins season could well be over before they head home. Tyler Duffey (1-1, 6.75 ERA) will make his third start of the season, and will be looking to build on his last outing, where he pitched 6 scoreless innings.
The Baltimore Orioles (61-57) are now just a half game back of the LA Angels for the final Wild Card spot in the AL. They got there by sweeping the Oakland A’s, but followed that up with a loss to the Mets in the first game of a 2-game interleague series. They will see that as a minor setback, though, as their bats are incredibly hot right now. They scored 34 runs in the 4-game series against the A’s, and all managed to get 3 runs in the loss to a Mets team who have done a good job of shutting opponents offenses down. The Orioles have a tough stretch of games coming up, but many of those are against other teams in the AL playoff picture, so they have a shot to control their own destiny.
