New York Yankees vs Minnesota Twins Best Bets, Predictions, Picks

• Yankees with huge pitching edge
• Two of American League’s best offenses square off
• X-factors to watch

Yankees vs Twins Odds

New York at Minnesota Prediction and Picks

The Twins put the hurt on the Yankees in game one of the series like few teams have this year, winning 8-1 on Wednesday. But Thursday is a different story. The Yankees have such a significant pitching advantage, it’s hard to imagine the Twins keeping it close.

Yankees to cover the spread.

New York at Minnesota Trends to Watch (As of 6.8)

• Yankees are 10-1 in their last 11 road games vs. a right-handed starter
• Yankees are 14-3 in their last 17 vs. a team with a winning record
• Yankees are 45-14 in their last 59 vs. American League Central
• Yankees are 6-2 in their last 8 games as a road favorite
• Yankees are 14-5 in their last 19 road games
• Yankees are 17-7 in their last 24 road games vs. a team with a winning record
• Under is 8-1 in Yankees last 9 during game 3 of a series
• Under is 5-2 in Yankees last 7 vs. a team with a winning record
• Twins are 3-8 in their last 11 games as an underdog
• Twins are 0-5 in their last 5 games as a home underdog
• Over is 4-0 in Twins last 4 home games vs. a right-handed starter
• Over is 4-0 in Twins last 4 games as an underdog
• Over is 22-8-2 in the last 32 head-to-head meetings in Minnesota
• Over is 4-0 in Twins last 4 home games
• Over is 12-3-1 in Twins last 16 games vs. a right-handed starter

Garcia’s 2022 record: (18-12)

Yankees Ace Takes the Mound

The Yankees have rolled all season long, particularly in Gerrit Cole’s starts. Cole, one of the best pitchers in baseball who somehow doesn’t have a Cy Young, has rebounded after a slow start to the season to emerge once again as one of the best arms in the AL.

Cole has thrown six innings or more in each of his past eight outings, and posting quality starts in all but one of those outings. He comes off his best start of the year, when he had a perfect game with two outs in the seventh against the Tigers, before finishing with just two hits allowed, no walks and nine strikeouts.

In his past two starts, he’s given up just one earned run on four hits and three walks with 19 strikeouts in 13 innings.

On the season, he’s 5-1 with a 2.78 ERA and 0.96 WHIP with 81 strikeouts (3rd in baseball) in 64.2 innings.

He’s countered by Dylan Bundy, who has struggled in his first year in Minnesota. Bundy has made nine starts, going 3-3 on the season with a 5.57 ERA and 1.45 WHIP while striking out 36 batters in 42 innings.

Bundy has yet to throw a quality start this season and comes off his second-worst start of the year, allowing five runs in 2.1 innings to the Blue Jays. He has allowed 30 earned runs in 26.2 innings in his past six starts.

Battle of the Offenses

Despite the Yankees lackluster offensive performance offensively on Wednesday, they still have possibly the most dominant offense in all of baseball.

Aaron Judge is playing at an MVP level, he leads the league in home runs (22) and OPS (1.070), is sixth in RBIs (45) and 12th in batting average (.315).

The Yankees have seven players with more than 100 at-bats who have OBP’s at .314 or better and as a team, the Yankees are hitting .246, with a .324 OBP and .752 OPS.

Minnesota also has a great offense and has scored the fourth-most runs in the American League and now that Carlos Correa is back from the Covid-19 list, has its depth back once again.

On Wednesday Byron Buxton, Gio Urshela, and Jose Miranda all had multiple hits while six different batters drove in at least one run. As a team, Minnesota ranks 7th in batting average, 7th in OBP and 12th in slugging percentage.

X-factors to Watch

For Minnesota, we’re going to watch Luis Arraez who has been the team’s best player in games at Target Field.  The 25-year-old is 31-for-78 (.397) with a team-best .478 OBP in games at home.

On the other side, keep an eye on Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who has been dominant when away from Yankee Stadium. New York’s shortstop is 25-for-78 (.321) in 24 road games this season with a .382 OBP.

How to Watch Yankees at Twins