Minnesota Twins vs Houston Astros Prediction, 8/8/2021 MLB Pick, Tips and Odds
Game: Minnesota Twins vs Houston Astros
Date: Sunday, August 8, 2021
Location: Minute Maid Park in Houston, TX
TV: AT&T SportsNet Southwest
Odds/Point Spread: Minnesota (+160) Houston (-208)
Minute Maid Park is the venue where Lance McCullers Jr and the Houston Astros (65-45, 1st in AL West) will take on the Minnesota Twins (47-63, 5th in AL Central) on Sunday. The Astros open this game at -208 while the Twins are priced at +160. The total is set at 9. The starting pitchers will be Kenta Maeda and Lance McCullers Jr.
As a team, the Minnesota Twins are recording 4.7 runs per game, which ranks them 12th in the league. They have notched a total of 512 runs and hold an on-base percentage of .317. The Twins have recorded 187 doubles as a team and have hit 157 balls out of the park. They have accrued 477 RBI's and 907 base knocks for the year, and their batting average sits at .245. Minnesota has a slugging rate of .429 and have been called out on strikes 940 times, while drawing a walk on 367 occasions.
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Twins pitchers have given up 162 home runs and 583 total runs (28th in baseball). Their pitching staff has walked 325 opposing players and their FIP sits at 4.60 as a unit over the course of the season. They have a K/BB ratio of 2.78 and their pitching staff has a collective WHIP of 1.34. The Twins have a team ERA of 4.95 this year (27th in the league), and their staff has rung up 905 batters.
Twins relief pitchers have gone to the mound with runners on base 89 times and also have had 117 appearances in high leverage situations. The bullpen have a total of 55 holds on the season (17th in MLB). The Twins relievers have earned a save rate of 61.9% and stepped onto the hill in 97 save situations. They have earned 26 saves on the campaign and have blown 16 of 42 chances to save the game. The relief pitchers have inherited 117 runners this season and 49.6% of them ended up scoring. The Twins have dispatched 352 relief pitchers to the hill so far this season.
The Minnesota Twins have 2,883 putouts over the course of the season, in addition to 974 assists and 73 errors. Their fielding percentage sits at .981 which is 29th in the majors, and have earned 731 double plays. The Twins have converted 68.7% of balls hit into play into outs out of 8,649 innings on the diamond, which has them ranked 24th in MLB.
Maeda (57-40 career mark) is the owner of a FIP of 3.72 while facing 3,065 opposing batters in the majors. He has surrendered 633 base knocks (7.6 hits per 9 innings) and has had 215 walks. His ERA is 3.86 (320 ER's allowed) and he has a WHIP of 1.136. Maeda has taken the mound for 746 innings and is sitting with 820 K's thus far in his career.
Houston has compiled 148 home runs on the year to go along with 571 runs batted in. They have hit 202 doubles, while taking a walk 393 times and putting up 595 runs. The Houston Astros have earned an on-base percentage of .338 as well as a team batting average of .265 on the season. The Astros have a slugging percentage of .440 and they score 5.41 runs per contest (1st in the league). They have been rung up on 837 instances (30th in baseball) and have a total of 999 hits.
The Houston pitching staff have conceded 448 runs so far this season while holding an ERA of 3.72 (405 earned runs relinquished). They have surrendered 133 homers and they surrender 4.11 runs per 9 innings (9th in baseball). The Astros have a WHIP of 1.217 in addition to having a FIP of 4.15 as a squad so far this season. They have earned a K/BB ratio of 2.71 (1,003 strikeouts against 370 bases on balls). They are currently ranked 7th in the league as a staff in total hits surrendered with 823.
With 90 save situations, the Astros have compiled 49 holds in addition to 16 blown saves. Houston has had relief pitchers take the mound in 40 save opportunities and they have earned 24 saves. Their relief pitchers have stepped onto the hill 104 times in high leverage situations in addition to 94 occasions with base runners. Houston relief pitchers have an inherited score percentage of 37.5% out of 144 inherited runners. They sit at 15th in the league holding a save percentage of 60.0%, and they have sent 335 relief pitchers onto the field over the course of the season.
The Houston Astros have turned 82 double plays and have accounted for a fielding rate of .988 (2nd in pro baseball). The Astros have 933 assists, 48 errors and have amassed 2,940 putouts on the season. In 8,820 innings on the field, the Astros are sitting with a efficiency on defense of 71.8% (2nd in pro baseball).
So far in his MLB career, McCullers has surrendered 519 base hits while he has totaled 689 punch outs in 613 innings pitched. He has given up 244 earned runs while holding a WHIP of 1.253 and having a FIP of 3.3. He has a K/BB ratio of 2.77 and he has faced 2,578 batters so far in his pro baseball career. McCullers (41-27 career win-loss record) has a 3.58 ERA and has conceded 7.6 hits per 9 innings.
Who will win tonight's MLB game against the spread?
Guy Bruhn's Pick: Take Houston (-208)
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Additional Resources:
Houston Astros - Twitter
Minnesota Twins - Twitter