Twins vs Pirates Odds, Lines and Spread – Aug 6
By Chris Amberley in MLB Baseball
Updated: March 9, 2021 at 2:45 pm ESTPublished:
- The Minnesota Twins are -188 road favorites over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday afternoon (Aug. 6, 1:35 pm EST)
- Kenta Maeda (2-0, 1.64 ERA) will start for Minnesota, while Pittsburgh will counter with JT Brubaker (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
- Read below for a preview and betting prediction for the game
The Minnesota Twins are scorching hot at the moment. They’ve won six straight and 10 of 12 overall, and currently own the best record in the Majors. They’ve beaten up on the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates for three straight days and will look to hand them yet another defeat Thursday afternoon at 1:35 pm EST.
Twins vs Pirates Odds
| Team | Moneyline | Runline | Total at FanDuel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota Twins | -188 | -1.5 (-120) | Over 9.0 (-110) |
| Pittsburgh Pirates | +162 | +1.5 (+102) | Under 9.0 (-110) |
Odds taken Aug. 5th.
Minnesota opened up as a -188 favorite in the Twins vs Pirates odds, in a game that features a total of 9. Minny’s starting pitching has stymied Pittsburgh all week, as they’ve limited the Pirates’ bats to just four runs in 14 innings. The Twins rank second in team ERA and WHIP and will give the ball to another strong arm on Thursday.
Maeda Has Been Money
Kenta Maeda will take the mound against Pittsburgh fresh off a brilliant effort last time out. He allowed just a single hit in 6 innings of shutout ball versus Cleveland, en route to his second straight victory.
Kenta Maeda’s final line for #MNTwins tonight:
6.0 IP 1 H 0 R 0 ER 1 BB 6 K
83 pitches 52 strikes
— Ted (@tlschwerz) August 2, 2020
In his season debut he was nearly as sharp, limiting the Chicago White Sox to four hits over five innings. He owns a 12-2 strikeout-to-walk rate and just 26.9% of the batters he’s faced have made hard contact.
https://twitter.com/AugustineMLB/status/1289921673039290369
Now he gets a matchup with Pittsburgh, one of the league’s lowest scoring offenses. The Pirates average just 3.25 runs per game and have crossed the plate more than three times once in their last seven outings.
Pirates Career Stats vs Maeda
| Player | AB | H | HR | RBI | K | AVG. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Adam Frazier | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .333 |
| Kevin Newman | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Josh Bell | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .200 |
| Colin Moran | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1.000 |
| Bryan Reynolds | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | .500 |
| Gregory Polanco | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 |
| Jose Osuna | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 |
| Jacob Stallings | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Cole Tucker | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
Maeda doesn’t have a long history against Pittsburgh, but he is 2-1 in three career starts with a 0.83 WHIP.
Twins Offense Has Been Terrific
Minnesota has outscored Pittsburgh 17-9 over the last three days, and rank second in runs and home runs in the American League. On Thursday they’ll take on JT Brubaker, who’ll be making his first career start. The 26-year-old has looked impressive in two appearances out of the bullpen in 2020, allowing just five baserunners in five innings of work.
JT Brubaker, Filthy Slider and Curveball. 😷 pic.twitter.com/eITiwYfR9m
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 2, 2020
Brubaker is a nice story, but he wasn’t even expected to be on the Opening Day roster back in March. He’s a former sixth round pick, and although he performed well during his six-year minor league career, he’s never faced an offense as potent as the Twins.
10-2.
Signal good. #TwinsWin | #MNTwins pic.twitter.com/E6CrSV58sm
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) August 6, 2020
Max Kepler is a star in the making and Nelson Cruz is defying father time. The 40-year-old is batting .391 this season, with three home runs and 15 RBI.
Twins Career Stats vs Brubaker
| Player | AB | H | HR | RBI | K | AVG. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Max Kepler | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Byron Buxton | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Jorge Polanco | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Nelson Cruz | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Eddie Rosario | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Miguel Sano | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Luis Arraez | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Marwin Gonzalez | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| Mitch Garver | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
Take the Twins
Siding with Minnesota for this contest seems like a no-brainer. They own baseball’s best winning percentage (.833), while Pittsburgh has the league’s worst (.167). The Twins -188 moneyline odds are a bit too steep, but their runline price is very appealing at -120.
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥#TwinsWin | #MNTwins pic.twitter.com/D7DWdLnrE8
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) August 6, 2020
Nine of Minny’s 10 wins this season have come by at least two runs, while four of the seven losses during the Pirates current losing streak have been by three runs or more.
Pick: Minnesota Twins -1.5 (-120)
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.
