Minnesota Twins Vs New York Yankees Prediction, Odds and Preview - 08/20/2021

Game Time: 7:05pm ET, Friday, Aug 20th, 2021

Venue:  Yankee Stadium, Bronx, New York

Where to Watch:  Yes, Bally Sports North

Twins: 54-67 (4th place AL Central)
Yankees:  69-52 (2nd place AL East )

DraftKings:  Moneyline odds:  Twins +180 Yankees -220; Over/Under:  10.5 runs

Bet365:  Moneyline odds: Twins +180, Yanks -220; Over/Under 10.5 runs

BetMGM:  Moneyline odds: Twins +180, Yanks -220; Over/Under 10  runs

Twins:

M. Kepler, RF

B. Rooker, LF

J. Polanco, 2B

J. Donaldson, DH

L. Arraez, 3B

M. Sano, 1B

N. Gordon, CF

R. Jeffers, C

A. Simmons, SS

Yankees:

L. Voit, DH

A. Rizzo, 1B

A. Judge, CF

J. Gallo, LF

G. Stanton, RF

R. Odor, 2B

A. Velazquez, SS

K. Higashioka, C

T. Wade, 3B

Yankees:

Batting Average: Aaron Judge (.258)

Hits: DJ LeMahieu (124)

Home Runs:  Aaron Judge (26)

RBI: Aaron Judge (63)

Stolen Bases:  Gleyber Torres (12)

Wins:  Gerrit Cole (11)

Saves:  Aroldis Chapman (23)

ERA:  Gerrit Cole (3.04)

Twins:

Batting Average: Jorge Polanco (21)

Hits:  Jorge Polanco (118)

Home Runs:  Jorge Polanco (21)

RBI:  Jorge Polanco (67)

Stolen Bases:  Jorge Polanco (10)

(When the five major offensive stats are all the same guy… and you are the Twins (not a good team)... you (the GM) has an obligation to trade that guy to a World Series contender.  The obligation is to the fans, the league, baseball as a sport, and that poor guy who is holding up your lousy team)

Wins:  Jose Berrios (7)

Saves:  Hansel Robles (10)

ERA:  Jose Berrios (3.48)

Managers:

Twins:  Rocco Baldelli

Yankees:  Aaron Boone

The Minnesota Twins are 7-3 over their last ten games.  A real bright spot this year.  The logged 5 Overs and 5 Unders.  They beat the Cleveland Indians 2-1 in a three-game series, beat the Tampa Bay Rays 2-1 in a 3 game, beat the Chicago White Sox 2-1 in a 3 game, and started it all off with a win 1-0 over the Houston Astros. 

The Yankees are 8-2 over their last ten games with a season long 6 game win streak going as we speak.  The notched 5 Overs and 5 Unders.  They swept the Boston Red Sox 3-0, beat a lone Angels matchup 1-0, took 2-1 from the Chicago White Sox, and 2-1 off the Kansas City Royals.  The Yanks have been rolling since they traded for Anthony Rizzo, he has lit the home games on fire!  Their last loss, to the White Sox, was all the way back on Thursday of last week and they are playing like they never want it to happen again.

The Twins are 12th in batting average .243, 18th in runs scored, 4th in home runs 171.  So, their offense is about average.  They don’t score a lot so they don’t win a lot but they do hit homers.

It’s the pitching that is the problem 26th in team ERA 4.86, 3rd in runs given up 634 and 2nd in home runs given up 180.  They are serving meatballs in Minnesota and not from the promotions department.  The only team worse is the Baltimore Orioles and that is sad company to keep.

The Yankees are hitting 19th in average .237, 20th in runs scored 513, and 15th in home runs 149… well that doesn’t sound like a team on a winning streak looking to close the gap and make the postseason?...

It’s the pitching that is the solution.  The Yankees are 6th in team ERA 3.65, 23rd in runs given up 486, and 20th in home runs given up 137.  They are pitching well, and if the additions of the trade deadline boosts these numbers then we have something.  

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The Twins will start lefty Charlie Barnes 0-2, 4.91 ERA, 9 strikeouts, 1.36 WHIP.  Charlie’s Major League Debut was July 17th of this year!  It’s almost disrespectful that they are going to put a 25 year old kid, who is this green, and has only pitched 18 major league baseball innings…. Against the hard-charging NY Yankees batters! From the first pitch on this 25 year old will be fighting for his life.  The batting order will leave few runners stranded. The weather forecast is cloudy with a chance of Homers. If you have tickets for this regular season  game...if you could afford the ticket prices… and you want to see this kid pitch?  Get there early, they are gonna pull him so fast he’lll wind up in June.

The Yankees are starting lefty Nestor Cortes Jr 1-1, 2.55 ERA, 53 strikeouts in 49 innings pitched, 1.09 WHIP.  Nestor is sort of a Yankee newby/spare part as well.  With only 128 innings of MLB action since his debut in 2018... a 5.12 career ERA… Nestor could go either way as well.  The difference being Nestor will get run support early and often.

This is clearly a bullpen game for both sides.  This is the second game of a four-game series, the best MLB stretch Yankees fans will get the rest of the season, the 5th of 7 straight games at home in 7 days!  They will both work their way through the roster looking for the best defense without burning an arm they are going to use later.  You can tune into the broadcast knowing everyone’s New York Yankees Predictions will be right about this one.

Notable quotes:

"We had to do a lot of things well today to get this win and we got it. We got Polo coming up. I mean, what else would happen?"  - Twins manager Rocco Baldelli after the Wednesday 11th inning win over the Cleveland Indians.

"'I've dreamt of doing what we just did,.....So, in real life it was way better." - Back-up Yankee Shortstop Andre Valezquez about hitting 2 RBI singles to help his hometown team sweep the Boston Red Sox and post their sixth straight win, the longest winning streak of the season.

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