The Yankees and Twins will start their second game of a 3-game series on Wednesday night with starters Pettitte and Liriano respectively. Currently, the two teams have nearly identical records. The Twins sit above the American League Central, while the Yankees are only a few games behind the stellar Tampa Bay Rays. While the Yankees have been almost unbeatable at home, the Twins have shown their resilience with outstanding stints on the road this year.
In Minnesota, you can expect local fans to fills the stadium in anticipation of a heated series. Joe Mauer is back at work with his clean bill of health intact, bettors can expect him and the other Minnesota hitters to try and feast on a Yankee starting rotation that has recently shown significant cracks in their armor. Expect a series that boasts a lot of offense in the form of hits, steals and runs.
The Twins have had several injuries to deal with this year, but despite the typical shortcomings of a major league franchise, they continue to play solid, consistent, winning baseball. Despite Minnesota winning a mediocre 4 of their last 8 games, this Ron Gardenhire ball club has exactly the kind of team that tends to give the Yankees trouble. They do it with pesky, patient hitting, workmanlike pitching, and speed on the bases.
The Twins also have the distinction of producing fewer errors than any other team in baseball to this point, and it looks like they don't have any intention of letting that title slip away. John Rauch has fit in seamlessly, and has proven to be a pleasant surprise filling in for the injured Joe Nathan. In addition to rounding out the bullpen, Rauch has saved nine games this season.
The Yankees started the season off on a hot streak, sporting virtually the same team that brought them the pennant last year. Currently, the Yankees are boasting impressive numbers of their own. They rank second in the majors with only 12 errors. In addition, their pitching staff has an overall ERA of less than 4. As expected with the big-name hitters in the Yankee lineup, their performance on the plate has resulted in an average of over 5 runs per game.
Mark Teixeira is showing signs of heating up, and this is bad news for the entire American League. Guys like Nick Swisher will be expected to add additional run support as the season continues, which will make for a very intimidating club. Having guys like Gardner as threats to steal bases only adds to the fear that the Yankees can place in the hearts of opposing pitchers. Gardner has already stolen 16 bases on the year, while getting caught only once.
Besides his debut against Boston, A.J. Burnett has been great so far this season. Burnett will try to recover in a big way in this this series. Liriano will be on the mound for the Twins, and he has been just average so far during the first stretch of the season. One thing Liriano has done well is minimizing the damage when he hasn't had his best stuff, which has allowed his club opportunities to crawl back in games with solid run support.
Bettors at bookmakersonlinebetting.com should know that the total in this series has gone over in four of the last 5 games.