Saturday brings a loaded 16-game slate, starting out in the Bronx with the Yankees and Rays, a doubleheader at Wrigley Field with the Cubs and Marlins, and a nightcap in San Diego between the Padres and Blue Jays. I'm keeping Saturday’s parlay fairly simple and backing 3 teams on the moneyline, 2 of them slated as underdogs. Below I'll provide a breakdown of each individual leg and don’t forget to check out our MLB predictions for every game today.
Detroit Tigers ML over Minnesota Twins (+110)
Rookie right fielder Wenceel Perez delivered the go-ahead base knock in the top of the ninth inning last night, leading the Tigers to a 5-4 win over the Twins. It capped a 3-for-5 night for Perez and extended the Twins losing streak to 5 games. Despite the 5-game losing skid, Minnesota enters this afternoon's game as slight favorites when Bailey Ober takes the mound. Ober will make his 4th start of the season and is coming off back-to-back starts totaling 11.0 innings in which he allowed just 1 earned run on a combined 6 hits. It's a major improvement from his first start against the Royals after giving up 8 earned runs on 9 hits and 3 home runs in just 1.1 innings. Ober tossed 6.0 scoreless frames against the Tigers on April 14, but Detroit rallied back with 4 runs in the eighth inning and won 4-3. A second look at Ober in under a week should provide a slight advantage to Detroits' lineup.'
The Tigers will counter with a right-hander of their own in Reese Olson, also making his 4th start and posting a 3.86 ERA. Much like Ober, Olson has put together 2 outstanding starts along with a dud. Olson's most recent outing came against the Rangers, where he recorded 8 strikeouts and held Texas to 1 earned run on 6 hits over 6.1 innings. Olson has yet to face this Twins' lineup this season, but he should find success given the poor start for the Twins offensively. Entering the day, Minnesota ranks 28th in runs scored, 29th in team batting average, and 28th in OPS. I don't envision the Twins putting much together at the plate and whenever Olson is relieved in this game, the Tigers have the best bullpen in baseball at the moment, posting a 1.67 ERA. I'll back Detroit in a game they should probably be favored in.