Minnesota Twins vs Tampa Bay Rays Betting Pick & Prediction 9/2/24

Minnesota heads into Monday’s matchup vs. the Rays looking for a win and move to 75-62, but they are slight underdogs on the money line (-113). The Rays, on the other hand, are 67-69 and will be starting Zack Littell. The over/under line is currently at 8 runs.

First pitch from Tropicana Field is set for 6:50 PM ET, and BSN will be televising this AL matchup. Simeon Woods Richardson is starting for the Twins, and he will be facing a Rays team that is 4th in the AL East.

MINNESOTA TWINS VS TAMPA BAY RAYS BETTING PICK

The Pick: Minnesota Twins Moneyline -113

This game will be played at Tropicana Field at 6:50 ET on Monday, September 2nd.

HOW TO BET THE TWINS VS RAYS:

• We have the Twins winning by a score of 5 to 4
• However, if you’re looking for a run line pick, we like the Rays to cover
• As for an over/under pick, we have this game finishing with 9 runs and like the over

Twins Records & Stats

The Twins’s offense was hot right out of the gates in their most recent game vs. the Blue Jays, closing out their series with a 4-3 win. After allowing one run to the Blue Jays in the top of the first, the Twins responded with three runs of their own. Minnesota went on to add another run in the 7th inning, and Griffin Jax closed things out in the 9th.

Bailey Ober put together a good start for the Twins, going six innings and giving up just one earned run, and picking up the win. He also issued only three walks and struck out eight Blue Jays batters. Royce Lewis hit a homer for the Twins but went just 1/3. He also scored three runs and issued a walk.

Minnesota is 74-62 overall and 3rd in the AL Central, 3.5 games behind the Guardians for the division lead. So far, they have gone 28-17 in divisional games. The Twins are just coming off a series win, taking two of three from the Blue Jays.

At home, the Twins have gone 39-30 this season, and they are above .500 at 35-32 on the road. As the favorite, the Twins have gone 58-36 this year, and they are 16-26 as the underdog. Minnesota has been good as the road favorite, putting together a record of 26-13. So far, their overall series record is 25-16-3.

Minnesota has a run line record of 65-71 this season, with an average run differential of +0.4 runs per game. The Twins have been a better bet on the run line on the road, going 36-31 compared to 29-40 at home. Minnesota has a run line record of 43-51 as the favorite and 22-20 as the underdog.

The Minnesota Twins are on the road in Tampa Bay, where the over/under line is set at 8 runs. The Twins and their opponents have combined to average 9.2 runs per game this season, and their over/under record is 69-63. When the over/under line is set at 8 runs, their record is 10-17-4. So far this season, 40.4% of their games have had over/under lines set higher than 8 runs.

Simeon Woods Richardson is looking to bounce back from a short outing vs. the Braves, as he got the start and went 4 2/3 innings. He ended up with a no-decision in the outing, giving up four earned runs, three walks, and three home runs. Before that outing, he had picked up the win in two straight starts. Against the Padres on August 21st, he went five innings and gave up just one earned run. His ERA for the season is 3.85, along with a record of 5-3. Woods Richardson has a batting average allowed of .224 and a WHIP of 1.18.

Over the past seven games, Ryan Jeffers and Carlos Santana have both hit two home runs for the Twins. For Jeffers, this has come while batting .300, and Santana has gone 6/20 (.300) over that stretch. Jeffers comes into the game as the team’s leader in home runs, while Santana is 2nd on the team with 18 homers and 57 RBIs.

Collectively, the Twins are 8th in home runs this season and are averaging 4.8 runs per game. This is a team that has been good at avoiding strikeouts and has the league’s 6th best OPS at .746. Minnesota is also among the league leaders in slugging percentage and isolated power.

Rays Records & Stats

The Rays will be looking to get back on track after closing out their series vs. the Padres with a 4-3 loss. This was especially tough, as they held a lead going into the 6th inning before the Padres scored three runs in the top of the 6th. Tampa Bay was the +104 underdog at home going into the game.

Ryan Pepiot got the start for the Rays and took the loss. He only lasted three innings, giving up three earned runs on four hits. The Rays’ offense scored their three runs in the 2nd inning. Manuel Rodriguez took the loss out of the bullpen for the Rays.

Tampa Bay is 67-69 overall, putting them 4th in the AL East, 11.5 games behind the Yankees for the division lead. In the AL Wild Card race, they are 3.5 games behind the Red Sox for the final spot. The Rays dropped two of three games in their most recent series vs. the Padres.

At home, the Rays are 35-36 this season compared to a 32-33 mark on the road. So far, they have gone just 17-23 in divisional matchups. Tampa Bay has dropped two straight games as the underdog and are 33-39 as the underdog overall. As the favorite, the Rays are 34-30 this year, and their overall series record is 21-18-5.

Despite a run line record of 31-40 at home, the Rays have covered the run line in two straight games at Tropicana Field. Tampa Bay has a run line record of 37-28 on the road, where they have an average run differential of -0.5 runs per game. Their overall run line record is 68-68, with an average run differential of -0.5 runs per game.

The Tampa Bay Rays are playing at home against the Minnesota Twins, and the over/under line for the game is set at 8 runs. The combined run average for Rays games this season is 8.2 runs, and their over/under record is 61-68. When the over/under line is set at 8 runs, their record is 14-18-1. So far this season, 45 of their games have had over/under lines set higher than 8 runs, which accounts for 33.1% of their games.

Tampa Bay is starting Zack Littell today vs. the Twins, and he comes into the game with a record of 5-8 and an ERA of 3.89. Littell has made 24 starts this year and has pitched well at home, with an ERA of 2.86 compared to 6.77 on the road. In his last outing, he finished with a no-decision, going five innings and giving up one earned run vs. the Astros. Before that, he had won two straight starts. Littell’s WHIP for the season is 1.31, and he has issued just 1.8 walks per nine innings.

Over the past 10 games, Josh Lowe has been swinging a hot bat for the Rays, going 11/36 with two homers and four RBIs. Junior Caminero has also been a big run producer of late, with seven RBIs in his last 10 games to go along with three homers. For the season, Caminero is batting just .196, and Caminero’s 21 homers are the most on the team.

Yandy Diaz has been the Rays’ top hitter this season, batting .277 with 12 homers and a team-leading 59 RBIs. The Rays will be looking for their offense to break out of its season-long slump, as they are averaging just 3.9 runs per game, which is the worst mark in the league. As a team, they are also near the bottom of the league in home runs, batting average, and slugging percentage.