Twins vs. Brewers prediction and odds for Tuesday, Aug. 22 (Back veteran hitters)

While the AL Central may have conceded to the Minnesota Twins, the NL Central isn’t exactly letting the Milwaukee Brewers run away with things.

Minnesota is leading by six games at 65-60 while Milwaukee is only ahead of the Cubs by 2.5 with a record of 68-57. 

The Twins took two of three over the weekend while the Brewers were busy sweeping the Texas Rangers, one of the best teams in the American League. For Game 1 of this matchup, the Twins will go with Bailey Ober on the road in Milwaukee. The Brewers will counter with Wade Miley. Ober is 6-6 with a 3.40 ERA while Miley is 6-3 with a 3.05 ERA. 

It’s the two Central division leaders in the first of three tonight. Let’s get into the odds for this matchup between Ober and Miley. 

Twins vs. Brewers odds, run line and total

Twins vs. Brewers prediction and pick

The Twins have had a big issue with their lineup and it’s their ability to hit left-handed pitching. For the season they have a .686 OPS as a team which ranks 25th in the MLB, but lately they’ve been much better.

Since July 1, they are 17th with an OPS of .730 and a 101 wRC+. The improvement has coincided with the arrival of young bats like Edouard Julien and Matt Wallner, but those two lefties haven’t had any success in left-on-left matchups. 

Instead, the improvement is centered around a veteran, Carlos Correa, who has a 1.161 OPS against lefties over that stretch along with Royce Lewis who has recently returned from injury to play third next to Correa. With the left side of the infield leading the way Minnesota should be able to hit Wade Miley who has a 4.53 FIP and a 4.57 xERA. 

Lately Ober hasn’t been great for Minnesota and has left their bullpen with a lot of innings to cover. That bullpen has a 5.15 ERA since July 1, so instead of backing Minnesota to win this one outright I’ll go with the over. 

Milwaukee scored 21 runs over its weekend series and Carlos Santana has three homers of the past week, so it’ll be the veterans leading on both sides. 

Follow all Josh Yourish’s bets HERE

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change