The Boston Red Sox wrap up a weekday series against the Minnesota Twins on Thursday afternoon.
Boston will send out Tanner Houck to get the Red Sox back to .500 against the 11-7 Minnesota Twins, who will counter with Kenta Maeda, who is still working his way back from Tommy John surgery.
Who has the edge on Thursday? Let's check out the odds and find the best bet:
Twins vs. Red Sox odds, run line and total
Twins vs. Red Sox prediction and pick
The Twins are off to a decent start amidst injuries to the lineup, but I believe that they are getting to much respect against the far superior Red Sox lineup.
Maeda's numbers aren't stellar, allowing five earned runs in 11 innings, but he hasn't walked a batter yet. He has been able to navigate some dangerous innings with his pinpoint control, but I'm not sure it'll keep up agianst Boston's set of hitters.
Boston walks at over a nine percent rate, right around the league average and are elite at generating run scoring chances, third in the big leagues in runs scored. If the team is able to put the ball in play or test Maeda's ability to throw strikes, Boston should get enough run support for Houck.
Minnesota's offense is far more underwhelming. The team has scored 23 less runs than the Red Sox, 23rd in all of baseball and are hitting just .225 as a group. Houck has struggled with control at times, but Minnesota doesn't walk much, bottom 10 in baseball and will struggle to generate hard contact against the Red Sox starter.
Maeda has held up nicely, but I believe there's too much talent at the plate for Boston not to be more considerable favorites. I'll lay it with the home team.
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.