The Brewers and Twins enter a weekday series against one another hoping to stay competitive in respective division races.
Milwaukee is one game off the pace in the NL Central at 34-32 while the Twins are hanging onto an AL Central lead by a game-and-a-half at 33-33. Milwaukee is fresh off a sweep against the lowly Oakland Athletics and will look to put that past them with a tight series against a division leader.
Corbin Burnes will start for the Brew Crew while the Twins counter with Pablo Lopez, how should we handicap this series opener?
Here are the odds:
Brewers vs. Twins odds, run line and total
Brewers vs. Twins prediction and pick
Both of these offenses are poor, as each have benefitted from a softer division schedule than the rest of the big leagues and I expect each to struggle again on Tuesday with two talented pitchers on the mound.
Burnes and Lopez have been below expectation over the course season, but this is a great spot for the teams to build some momentum moving forward.
We'll start with Burnes, who has seen his strikeout metrics dwindle this season, striking out fewer than nine batters per nine innings this season, which is the first time since his limited stint as a rookie he didn't strikeout double digits batters per nine. However, he is off an eight inning, shutout performance.
He now faces a Twins lineup that is 21st in OPS over the last 15 days, who may struggle with Burnes and his emerging form.
However, I can't trust the Brewers offense that has been poor in the short and long term. The team is 23rd in OPS over the last 15 days and 25th on the year. The team will face Lopez, who has a 4.25 ERA but does have an xERA of 3.35 and has been striking out more batters per nine innings than any other year of his career.
Lopez is due some good fortune and I believe he can shut down the Brewers, and go toe-to-toe with Burnes.
I'm staying off the side and eyeing the under as my favorite bet on Tuesday.
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.