The Minnesota Twins look to avoid a three-game sweep when they clash against the streaking and red-hot Atlanta Braves in the finale of their three-game set Wednesday afternoon at Truist Park in Atlanta, Georgia. They toss out the first pitch at 12:20 pm for this early start afternoon affair. The Braves are -153 in today's contest.
The Braves (52-27) have clearly shown they are one of the best teams in the National League and are trying to put the rest of the NL East in their rear mirror by running away with the division. They have handled their rivals in the New York Mets and the Philadelphia Phillies, but have had some issues of late against the Miami Marlins.
They have taken the first two games of the series and have won four straight and an amazing 12 of 13 overall.
Their offense is clicking and their bats have been on fire, and their pitching has done a great job of chewing up innings and backing their offense, which has a stacked lineup from top to bottom.
They are led on offense by Ronald Acuna Jr. who is having a monster season as the rising right fielder is putting up All-Star numbers on a team that has several All-Stars and MVP Candidates.
First baseman Matt Olson is also having a monster season as he has clubbed 19 home runs to go along with 51 runs batted in, while batting .330 on the season.
The Braves will send out Kolby Allard who they got in a deal with the Texas Rangers last season.
The Twins (40-41) have also enjoyed an average season and have shown some staying power in the AL Central, which appears to be coming down between Minnesota and Cleveland to see who will claim the division. Their record might be a game under .500 but they have played in a weak division and will have some chances to pull away.
They have dropped two straight games and three of four overall They enter today's game with a 1/2 game lead over the Cleveland Guardians.
Minnesota has also shown they can use the longball to beat teams as well as manufacture runs and win low scoring battles. On offense, they are led by shortstop Carlos Correa who has drilled 11 home runs to go along with 37 runs batted in while batting .212.
Minnesota will send out veteran hurler Kenta Maeda who has really struggled this season and has not yet found his groove on the mound. He enters this game with a 1-4 mark to go along with an unheard-of 6.86 ERA. He finally picked up his first win of the season in his last outing, but before that he was getting rocked all over the place.
He tossed five frames of three-hit ball while allowing just two walks and no runs while striking out eight batters in a 4-1 win over the Detroit Tigers.
The Braves are 4-1 in their last five games and 2-3 in their last five games against the number and 20-18 in their road games against the spread too. The totals have gone over in three of their last five games and 25 of their last 41 games at home. The Twins are 2-3 in their last five games and 2-3 in their last five games against the spread. They are also 20-19 in their road games against the number. The totals have gone over in one of their last five games and 18 of their last 42 games at home.
