Saturday MLB Wagering Action –Wade, Liriano Take Mound As Twins Host Rays

The Minnesota Twins are perennially one of the scrappiest teams in all of baseball, generally overachieving more often than not while battling the financial restraints of being a small market ballclub.

The feisty Twins surpassed all expectations last season and reached the ALCS before eventually falling to the vaunted New York Yankees.

Minnesota entered this season with even higher expectations and will enter tonight’s contest against the Tampa Bay Rays with a winning SU record, but the Twins have struggled to cash in for pro baseball bettors in a big way recently.

Saturday, July 3, 4:10 PM ET

MLB Odds

Tampa Bay Rays – Wade Davis -R

Minnesota Twins – Francisco Liriano -L

TV: Fox
Radio: Sirius 177 XM

Tampa Bay (46-32 SU, 36-38-4 O/U, 36-42 RL)

Minnesota (43-36 SU, 33-41-5 O/U, 37-42 RL)

Minnesota has lost six of its last 10 games while going 8-12 in their last 20 games overall. The Twins last won consecutive games nearly two weeks ago when they host a Tampa Bay Rays team that is looking for some momentum of its own.

Here is a look at tonight’s key head-to-head MLB Trends, followed by my in-depth analysis and expert MLB Picks.

• Over is 5-2-1 in the last 8 meetings in Minnesota.
• Rays are 17-36 in the last 53 meetings.
• Rays are 8-22 in the last 30 meetings in Minnesota.

Tampa Bay 411

• Rays are 0-5 in Davis’ last 5 starts vs. a team with a winning record.
• Rays are 0-5 in Davis’ last 5 starts.
• Over is 5-1 in Rays last 6 road games.

Right-hander Wade Davis (5-9, 4.68 ERA) tossed a season-high 7.1 innings against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday and allowed just two runs on four hits, but was handed a loss as Tampa Bay could manage just one earned run of support. Despite losing his fifth straight start, Davis threw 73 of his 104 pitches for strikes and has not allowed more than three earned runs in four consecutive starts.

Minnesota 411

• Twins are 3-7 in Liriano’s last 10 starts.
• Twins are 1-4 in Liriano’s last 5 home starts.
• Over is 5-2 in Twins last 7 home games vs. a right-handed starter.

Francisco Liriano’s (6-6, 3.47 ERA) struggles continued in his last start as the southpaw was smacked around for six earned runs on nine hits in six innings of a 7-5 loss to Detroit on Wednesday.

The outing was Liriano’s third consecutive loss, but the veteran hurler had not allowed more than three earned runs in six consecutive starts prior to his most recent outing.

Analysis: While the Minnesota Twins may have a shot at winning this contest against a Tampa Bay ballclub that is still trying to get back on track after some recent struggles, I don’t see that happening with Tampa Bay being the better all-around team in this contest and Wade being a bit better than Francisco Liriano.

Heading into Friday night, Tampa Bay had won two straight games while the Twins were looking to were looking to snap out of a dismal 3-7 stretch over its last 10 games.

In addition to playing the Rays for the SU road win and MLB Moneyline cover, I also like the Over to play out for MLB gamblers as it has gone 5-1 in Tampa Bay’s last six road games and 5-2 in Minnesota’s last seven home games against a right-handed starter.

MLB Expert Picks: Tampa Bay Rays SU Win/Over Set O/U Total