It’s a potential playoff preview on Monday night as the New York Yankees make their first visit of the season to the Minnesota Twins. The Yanks are all but lock to win the AL East, while the Twins lead in the AL Central but now only by three over Cleveland. New York is a slight favorite on Monday’s MLB Odds.

How to Bet Yankees vs Twins MLB Odds & Game Info

• When: Monday, 8:10 PM ET
• Where: Target Field
• Probable pitchers (away/home): CC Sabathia/Martin Perez
• TV: MLB Extra Innings
• Live Stream: MLB.tv
• Radio: SiriusXM
• MLB Odds: New York Yankees -125 (Total 11)

Why Bet on NY Yankees?

The Yanks had a five-game winning streak snapped Sunday in an 8-4 home loss to Colorado. Second baseman DJ LeMahieu, a former Rockies player, continues his big season for New York with a homer. LeMahieu clocked a solo home run off German Marquez to lead off the bottom of the first inning, but the Yankees’ offense would be stymied by Marquez for most of the contest otherwise. LeMahieu has been one of the best offseason signings in the bigs this season, hitting .333/.378/.515 with 14 home runs and 68 RBI across 375 at-bats. He has already set a career-best for RBI in a season, and with one more home run, LaMahieu will tie his career-best for home runs in a campaign.

The Yankees might be without outfielder Brett Gardner for a bit. Gardner underwent an MRI on his sore left knee on Sunday. Yankees’ manager Aaron Boone said that the exam “showed a little something,” but that he wasn’t sure of the exact diagnosis. DH/outfielder Giancarlo Stanton has yet to resume baseball activities. Boone referred to Stanton’s recovery from a PCL sprain in his right knee as “slow-moving.” He’s probably at least a few weeks away.

It’s big lefty CC Sabathia on the mound. Sabathia (5-4) allowed three-run on five hits and zero walks across six innings during last Tuesday’s 8-3 win over the Rays. He struck out six but did not factor in the decision. Sabathia pitched well but missed out on the win since the Yankees’ offense didn’t take the lead and bust things open until a six-run eighth inning. The veteran southpaw has delivered four straight quality starts and has a 3.24 ERA, 1.08 WHIP and 27:7 K:BB in that stretch.

Sabathia will make his 16th start of the season in Monday’s series opener at Minnesota and the 38-year-old will start on extended five days’ rest due to last Wednesday’s rainout. He is the 14th pitcher in baseball history to record both 250 wins and 3,000 strikeouts. Sabathia leads active Major League pitchers in career wins, starts (553), strikeouts (3,063), innings pitched (3,552.0) and quality starts (319). He is the first pitcher to earn at least one win in 19 consecutive seasons since Jamey Wright (19 seasons, 1996-2014).

Team Stats

• Runs: 5.71
• Hits: 9.10
• Walks: 3.71
• Strike Outs: 8.87

• Runs: 4.25
• Hits: 8.40
• Walks: 2.95
• Strike Outs: 9.34

Why Bet on Minnesota?

Max Kepler went 3-for-6 with a three-run homer and a walk-off RBI single in the ninth inning to propel the Twins to a 7-6 comeback victory over the Athletics on Sunday. Kepler smacked a leadoff double and came around to score on an RBI double by ensuing batter Jorge Polanco in the opening frame. He also clobbered a line-drive three-run homer to right field in the second inning. He saved his most critical hit for the ninth inning when he delivered a walk-off single to left field off Athletics ace reliever Liam Hendriks with two outs in the frame. The 26-year-old outfielder is now up to 24 round-trippers on the season and has gone deep three times in nine games since the All-Star break.

The Twins enter have had at least one extra-base in 52 straight games, dating back to May 20. It marks the 14th longest XBH hit-streak in club history. The team record is 98 straight from June 9-September 29, 2009. For the season, the Twins rank first in baseball in extra-base hits.

The Twins are hopeful of activating fellow outfielder Byron Buxton could be activated from the injured list on Monday. Buxton went through all pregame activities on Sunday and didn’t have any issues. He will be re-evaluated on Monday and it appears that he will be activated, barring a setback. Buxton has missed the last week of action with a concussion.

It’s veteran lefty Martin Perez (8-3) on the bump for Minnesota. Perez’s results finally caught up to his stellar hard-hit rate and exit velocity allowed Wednesday against the Mets, when he allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits in six frames before the defense and bullpen imploded in a blowout loss.

This will be his fifth career start against the Yankees and is 2-2, 9.68 ERA (17.2 IP, 19 ER) with three walks and 10 strikeouts. His last start vs. them came August 12 of the last season, where he suffered the loss after allowing seven runs (all earned) on 11 hits. Perez’s last win vs. the Yankees came September 8, 2017. He tossed 5.2 innings while allowing five runs (two earned) on eight hits with one walk and four strikeouts.

Team Stats

• Runs: 5.59
• Hits: 9.57
• Walks: 3.06
• Strike Outs: 8.02

• Runs: 4.45
• Hits: 8.57
• Walks: 2.80
• Strike Outs: 8.70

Yankees vs Twins MLB Betting Trends

• Yankees are 12-2 in Sabathia’s last 14 starts vs. Twins
• Over is 5-2 in Sabathia’s last 7 road starts vs. Twins
• Yankees are 7-3 SU in their last 10 games on the road
• The total has gone UNDER in 7 of NY Yankees’ last 9 games against an opponent in the American League
• Twins are 5-2 SU in their last 7 games when playing at home against NY Yankees
• The total has gone UNDER in 5 of Minnesota’s last 7 games at home

Expert Final Score Prediction for Yankees vs Twins

New York Yankees 7 – Minnesota Twins 4