Twins vs Royals Picks and Odds – Aug 22
By Chris Amberley in MLB Baseball
Updated: March 9, 2021 at 2:26 pm ESTPublished:
- The Minnesota Twins are -156 road favorites over the Kansas City Royals on Saturday (Aug. 22, 7:05 pm EST)
- Randy Dobnak (4-1, 1.42 ERA) will start for Minnesota, while KC will counter with Brady Singer (1-2, 4.56 ERA)
- Read below for a preview and betting prediction for the game
The Minnesota Twins have lost 10 games all season, but strangely enough five of those losses have come against the Kansas City Royals. Minnesota will look to rebound from Friday’s 7-2 loss to KC on Saturday, when the two teams square off again at 7:05 pm EST.
Twins vs Royals Odds
| Team | Moneyline | Runline | Total at FanDuel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota Twins | -156 | -1.5 (-104) | Over 9.0 (-122) |
| Kansas City Royals | +136 | +1.5 (-112) | Under 9.0 (+100) |
Odds taken Aug. 22nd.
Not surprisingly, Minnesota opened as a road favorite in the Twins vs Royals odds, in a game that features a total of 9. Minny is 3-5 against its division rival this season, and will face right-hander Brady Singer for the third time in the last two weeks.
Twins Look to Solve Singer Again
In their first outing versus Singer, the Twins mustered just two runs over 5 innings in a 4-2 defeat. A week later they crossed the plate three times against him including this no doubter by Max Kepler, which helped Minny take the lead for good.
Max Kepler into the damn lawn chairs. Sounded like the bat exploded. pic.twitter.com/xhUd0rFmEr
— Jared Carrabis (@Jared_Carrabis) August 16, 2020
Singer has struggled with his control all season, which has led to an astronomical 4.21 BB/9 rate and a 1.75 HR/9 rate. He’s surrendered five home runs in his last four starts, and is allowing opposing batters to make hard contact in a whopping 48.6% of their at-bats.
Simply put, that’s a recipe for disaster versus the Twins’ high powered offense. Minnesota ranks top-10 in runs and home runs and features five players who are on pace for double-digit homers in this shortened season.
Twins Career Stats vs Singer
| Player | AB | H | HR | RBI | K | AVG. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Max Kepler | 5 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | .400 |
| Jake Cave | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Jorge Polanco | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .000 |
| Nelson Cruz | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .333 |
| Eddie Rosario | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .167 |
| Miguel Sano | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 |
| Ehire Adrianza | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Marwin Gonzalez | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 |
| Alex Avila | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 |
Dobnak Has Been Dominant
The Twins will counter with Randy Dobnak, who has been a very pleasant surprise this season. The 25-year-old leads the rotation in wins and ERA, allowing two or fewer runs in each of his five starts.
Updated American League ERA leaders:
1. Shane Bieber, Indians 1.30
2. Lance Lynn, Rangers 1.37
3. Randy Dobnak, Twins 1.42
4. Framber Valdez, Astros 1.72
5. Zack Greinke, Astros 1.82— Matt Young (@Chron_MattYoung) August 20, 2020
He isn’t overpowering hitters, as evident by his 4.97 K/9 rate, but instead pitching to contact with a heavy dose of sinkers. He’s induced ground balls at a 64.5% clip this season, and hasn’t given up more than four hits in any outing.
Updated odds to win AL Rookie of the Year:
JULY 9th (Current)
SEA Kyle Lewis N/A (+300)
CWS Luis Robert +275 (+300)
MIN Randy Dobnak N/A (+600)
OAK Jesus Luzardo +283 (+800)
TB Brendan McKay +950 (+1000)
DET Casey Mize +833 (+1000)#MLB
— SportsBettingDime (@SBD) August 19, 2020
He went up against this Royals team last week, and held them to three hits and two runs over 5.1 innings en route to victory. Minnesota has won each of his last four starts by at least two runs, which makes the Twins runline very intriguing on Saturday.
Royals Career Stats vs Dobnak
| Player | AB | H | HR | RBI | K | AVG. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whit Merrifield | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .167 |
| Nicky Lopez | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 |
| Hunter Dozier | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .200 |
| Jorge Soler | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .250 |
| Ryan O’Hearn | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Alex Gordon | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .333 |
| Maikel Franco | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Adalberto Mondesi | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .000 |
| Cam Gallagher | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
Twins Rebound Versus Royals
15 or Minnesota’s 17 wins have come by at least two runs, including each of its three victories versus Kansas City this season. The Twins bats were cooled off by Danny Duffy on Friday, but don’t expect Singer to stymie them on Saturday.
A literal six thousand foot home run for Nelson Cruz. Yikes. pic.twitter.com/we8lo8JOia
— Jared Carrabis (@Jared_Carrabis) August 15, 2020
Minnesota is loaded with power up and down the lineup, and Singer struggles to keep the ball in the yard.
The Royals meanwhile, rank second last in the AL in runs scored and are facing a pitcher who boasts the third lowest ERA in the league. All signs point to a comfortable Twins victory.
Pick: Minnesota Twins -1.5 (-104)
Sports Writer
As SBD's resident Swiss Army Knife, Chris covers virtually every sport including NFL, PGA, NBA, MLB, NCAAB, NCAAF and the Olympics. A true grinder, he'd rather pick off small edges in the player props market than swing for the fences with a 5-leg parlay.
