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It’s a potential American League playoff preview on Friday night when the Minnesota Twins, who are second in the AL Central, visit the Baltimore Orioles, who are second in the East. I don’t think the O’s are winning the East but will be a wild-card team. Minnesota probably will win the Central barring injury so the clubs may meet in a wild card series.

Dean Kremer takes the mound Friday at home as a short underdog on the MLB betting lines against Twins.

Twins vs. Orioles Odds and Betting Prediction for Friday’s Game | MyBookie Regular Season Baseball Preview

Opening MLB Lines: Orioles -125, Twins +105 / O/U Total 8.5
Probable pitchers (away/home): Pablo Lopez/Dean Kremer

Friday, June 30, 2023 at 7:05 pm ET
Camden Yards | Baltimore, Maryland

Why Bet on Minnesota?

The Twins lost their third in a row Wednesday, 3-0, and were swept three games in Atlanta to fall two games under .500. The off day was badly needed Thursday. It may be time to cut bait with Joey Gallo. He struck out in all three of his at-bats Wednesday and now has a 40% strikeout rate that’s even worse than last year’s brutal mark of 39.8%. His OPS has dropped from .900 to .766 during a 10-for-66 slump that has seen him strike out in 39 of 74 plate appearances.

All-Star shortstop Carlos Correa didn’t start Wednesday simply for rest. He’ll play Friday. Outfielder Max Kepler and rookie second baseman Edouard Julien also sat but both are fine and should play here. Reliever Jorge Lopez, who is on the 15-day injured list for mental health reasons, has been throwing, but there is no timetable for his return. He would be eligible to be activated Friday.

In the three games in Atlanta, Minnesota stranded 20 runners on base, hit 0-for-23 with runners in scoring position and struck out 31 times. The team increased its MLB lead in K’s with 14 strikeouts on Wednesday. After Wednesday’s loss, the Twins had a players-only meeting, and manager Rocco Baldelli spoke candidly about his team’s performance.

“The truth of the matter is we were flat, and we made no adjustments in the game almost whatsoever,” Baldelli said. “And if you’re going to call a spade a spade and say how it is, that’s not good baseball.”

It’s Pablo Lopez (3-5, 4.41) on the mound Friday.
Lopez (3-5) allowed three runs on seven hits and a walk while striking out 10 over six innings, taking the loss Saturday versus the Tigers. Lopez has three quality starts in five outings in June, but he has an 0-2 record and 18 runs allowed (17 earned) through 30.1 innings on the month. Lopez is at a 4.41 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and 120:27 K:BB through 96 innings across 16 starts this season. He has received an average of only 1.84 runs of support in eight road starts this year, the lowest road run support average in baseball.

Lopez faces Orioles for the second time in his career and the first time since August 4, 2020 at Baltimore; he earned the win in a 4-0 Marlins’ victory, pitching 5.0 shutout innings with two hits allowed, no walks and seven strikeouts.

Why Bet on Baltimore?

The Orioles are very hard to beat at Camden Yards but enter on a two-game home slide following an 11-7 loss in 10 innings to Cincinnati on Wednesday. Will Benson hit a go-ahead triple and TJ Friedl followed with a two-run homer in a four-run 10th inning. Why Orioles manager Brandon Hyde used struggling reliever Keegan Akin in the top of the 10th is truly baffling. The Orioles were trying to win their fourth straight home series.

Adam Frazier was a bright spot in the loss as he hit his ninth homer and walked twice. The two-run homer off Buck Farmer tied the game in the eighth. It marked his second career game-tying home run in the eighth inning or later and first since a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth on August 7, 2020 vs. Detroit with the Pirates. Frazier is just one homer off his career high but his .304 OBP is less impressive.

Orioles rookie Jordan Westburg went 2 for 5 with an RBI double Wednesday in the eighth and has five hits in his first three major league games. He is the first O’s batter to hit safely in his first three career games since Gunnar Henderson did so in his first four from August 31 to September 3, 2022.

It’s Dean Kremer on the bump Friday.
Kremer did not factor into the decision last Saturday, allowing three runs on five hits and one walk over seven innings in a 6-4 win over Seattle. He struck out five. Kremer retired the first seven hitters he faced before surrendering a solo homer to Mike Ford in the top of the third, followed by another solo homer to J.P. Crawford two batters later. The right-hander would be victimized by the long ball yet again to open the sixth by Julio Rodriguez. However, Kremer was still able to go a season-high seven innings and notch his third quality start in his last five appearances.

He was dealt the loss in his lone start against Minnesota on May 25, 2021 at Target Field as Kremer allowed five runs on six hits (1 HR) with three walks, two wild pitches, and five strikeouts in 4.0 innings. He threw 94 pitches, 51 strikes. Kremer has pitched to a 4-1 record with a 4.50 ERA (23 ER/46.0 IP) through his first eight starts at Oriole Park this season.

Baltimore has either lost or split six of its past 10 series overall — including three of its past four. I like the Orioles to take 2 of 3 this weekend, including Friday.

MLB Prediction: Orioles 5, Twins 4 | Bet Twins vs. Orioles Today
MyBookie Betting Lines for the Games

Minnesota Twins vs. Baltimore Orioles | Betting Trends for Game

Twins are 1-6 in their last 7 games following an off day.
Twins are 24-50 in their last 74 road games.
Twins are 16-35 in their last 51 road games vs. a right-handed starter.
Orioles are 20-7 in their last 27 Friday games.
Orioles are 37-17 in their last 54 during game 1 of a series.
Orioles are 17-8 in their last 25 vs. a team with a losing record.
Twins are 11-5 in the last 16 meetings in Baltimore.

Bet Twins vs. Orioles Today

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