The St. Louis Cardinals (2-1) visit the Minnesota Twins (2-1) for the first of two games at Target Field Tuesday at 8:10 p.m. ET. We analyze the Cardinals-Twins MLB betting odds and lines, with picks and best bets.
Cardinals at Twins: Projected starting pitchers
RHP Carlos Martinez vs. RHP Homer Bailey
Martinez will make his first start since July of 2018. He worked out of the bullpen last year, recording a 3.17 ERA with 24 saves in 48 appearances (48 1/3 IP).
- Martinez averaged just about an inning per appearance in 2019, but has built up his workload again. He worked four effective innings in an exhibition game against the Royals last week, and should go a little longer against the Twins if he’s pitching effectively.
- Martinez has faced the Twins just twice in his career, allowing three earned runs with eight punch outs in 11 2/3 innings. Facing this version of the Twins will be a tall task, as they finished second in runs and first in home runs in 2019.
Bailey will be making his Minnesota regular-season debut. In 31 starts a season ago for the Kansas City Royals and Oakland A’s, he went 13-9 with a 4.57 ERA.
- Bailey had a 4.30 ERA after a July trade to Oakland last season. A splitter-heavy approach really helped him thrive down the stretch, when he posted a 2.25 ERA and a strikeout per inning over his final eight starts.
- Historically, he has really struggled against the Cardinals. In 28 career starts against St. Louis, he is 6-16 with a 5.80 ERA and allowed 1.6 home runs per nine innings.
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Cardinals at Twins: Key injuries
Here’s a look at all of the latest injury news around the league.
Cardinals
- RP Giovanny Gallegos (travel) probable
- 2B Brad Miller (ankle) out
Twins
- C Willians Astudillo (COVID-19) out
- OF Byron Buxton (ankle) questionable
- RP Lewis Thorpe (leg) questionable
Cardinals at Twins: Odds, lines, picks and betting tips
MLB odds courtesy of BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports for a full list. Odds last updated at 5 p.m. ET.
Prediction
Cardinals 5, Twins 4
Moneyline (ML)
The Twins (-150) boast the stronger lineup, and Bailey showed excellent skills during the final two months of 2019. However, he’s far from a sure thing to carry that level of success over to 2020, and few would argue that St. Louis will be sending the better pitcher to the mound in this contest. Side with the CARDINALS (+135) in this one.
New to sports betting? A winning $10 bet on the Cardinals returns a profit of $13.50 – in other words, every $1 bet on the Cards will profit $1.35 if they win.
Run line/Against the spread (ATS)
Looking at the run line, the Cardinals check in at +1.5 (-154), while the Twins have odds of -1.5 (+125). Neither side of this bet looks all that appealing, so PASS on the run line.
Over/Under (O/U)
Martinez has some questions heading into 2020, after handling a rather small workload last season. But he always displays strong skills, and should at least be able to keep the potent Minnesota lineup in check while he’s in there.
Bailey, meanwhile, looked very good himself when we last saw him. He’s facing an offense that was below average in 2019, both in terms of runs scored and most of the advanced metrics. Look for this game to end up UNDER 10.5 (-110) the total.
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