Minnesota Twins vs. Cleveland Guardians Prediction:
The Cleveland Guardians enter Wednesday’s home game against the Minnesota Twins as the top team in the American League Central, while also battling the New York Yankees to try to get the top overall seed in the American League playoff picture.
Cleveland entered Tuesday a half-game back of the New York Yankees for that top spot and turns to second-year starting pitcher Tanner Bibee in a big game on Wednesday.
Top MLB Resources:
Bibee has a 3.60 ERA with 9.8 strikeouts per nine innings while issuing just 2.3 walks and 1.2 home runs per nine innings and is backed up by the league’s top bullpen in terms of ERA.
The Guardians 2.65 ERA for their bullpen is more than a half-point clear of the next-lowest bullpen ERA in the league, that being the Milwaukee Brewers with a 3.18 ERA.
Minnesota entered Tuesday 21st in the league with a bullpen with a 4.16 ERA and looks to Bailey Ober to lend a good start on the mound.
Ober enters with similar numbers to Bibee with a 3.90 ERA, recording 9.4 strikeouts per nine innings while allowing 2.3 walks and 1.3 home runs per nine innings, but enters having allowed 15 runs across his past four starts.
Both the Guardians and Twins have had inconsistency in scoring runs recently, with the Twins scoring just under 3.7 runs per game in September entering Tuesday. The Guardians are averaging 3.6 runs per game in September.
With both lineups having issues and a pair of starters that are near equals, the bullpen advantage of the Guardians will be the difference on Wednesday for a team that entered Tuesday with the best home record in the American League at 46-27.
The Play: Guardians -112
To find more baseball value bets and MLB picks, visit Greg Peterson’s daily MLB lines.
