Minnesota Twins vs Tampa Bay Rays Prediction, 9/3/2021 MLB Pick, Tips and Odds

Game: Minnesota Twins vs Tampa Bay Rays

Date: Friday, September 3, 2021

Location: Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, FL

TV: Bally Sports Sun

Odds/Point Spread: Minnesota (+140) Tampa Bay (-175)

Randy Dobnak and the Minnesota Twins (58-75, 5th in AL Central) head to Tropicana Field on Friday where they'll meet the Tampa Bay Rays (84-49, 1st in AL East). The Rays open this matchup at -175 while the Twins are coming in at +140. The over/under opens at 9. The pitchers taking the mound are Randy Dobnak and Michael Wacha.

As a team, the Minnesota Twins are scoring 4.5 runs per outing, which puts them at 15th in baseball. They are sitting with 602 runs scored while holding a team OBP of .316. The Twins have earned 218 doubles as a squad and have smacked 185 baseballs out of the park. They have earned 566 RBI's as well as 1,077 hits on the season, and their batting average is .241. Minnesota is slugging .421 and have struck out 1,150 times, while drawing a walk on 447 occasions.

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The Twins have an earned run average of 4.95 for the season (27th in MLB), and the staff has rung up 1,084 batters. They have walked 397 players from the other team and their FIP sits at 4.68 as a team over the course of the season. They have earned a K/BB ratio of 2.73 and the pitching staff holds a WHIP of 1.32. Twins pitchers have given up 201 long balls in addition to 705 runs (28th in baseball).

Twins bullpen pitchers have entered the contest with players on base 105 times as well as having 146 appearances in high leverage situations. The relief pitchers have 70 holds this season (12th in MLB). The Twins bullpen have recorded a save percentage of 62.7% and has come into the game in 121 save situations. They have compiled 32 saves so far this season and have blown 19 of their 51 chances to get a save. The bullpen pitchers have inherited 139 runners so far this season and 46.8% of those players crossed home plate. The Twins have dispatched 426 relievers to the mound on the year.

The Twins have turned 69.1% of balls hit into play into outs out of their 10,494 innings on the diamond, which has them sitting at 21st in the majors. The Minnesota Twins are sitting with 3,498 putouts this year, in addition to 1,185 assists and 96 errors. Their fielding percentage sits at .980 which has them sitting 30th in the majors, and have 874 double plays.

Dobnak has taken the hill for 118 frames and is sitting with 75 punch outs during his MLB career. His ERA is 4.85 (64 earned runs allowed) and his career WHIP is 1.407. He has surrendered 137 hits (10.4 hits per nine innings) with 30 walks. Dobnak (9-11 career win-loss mark) sits with a FIP of 4.52 while facing 518 opposing hitters during his time in the major leagues.

Tampa Bay has tallied 180 long balls on the year to go along with 672 runs batted in. They have tallied 240 doubles, while walking 487 times and notching 712 runs. The Tampa Bay Rays have an on-base percentage of .319 as well as a team batting average of .239 this year. The Rays have a SLG% of .422 and they average 5.35 runs per game (1st in baseball). They have struck out on 1,296 occasions (2nd in the league) and have tallied 1,082 hits.

The Rays are sitting with a team WHIP of 1.175 in addition to having a FIP of 3.73 as a squad for the year. Their K/BB ratio comes in at 3.42 (1,242 strikeouts against 363 bases on balls). They rank 13th in baseball as a pitching staff in total hits surrendered with 1,044. They have allowed 149 homers and they concede 4.07 runs per 9 innings (7th in MLB). The Tampa Bay pitching staff have conceded 542 runs for the season while having an ERA of 3.67 (488 earned runs given up).

Tampa Bay relief pitchers have an inherited score percentage of 29.3% of 133 inherited base runners. Their relief pitchers have stepped onto the mound 152 times in high leverage situations and on 106 occasions with base runners. Sitting with 127 save situations, the Rays have recorded 73 holds and 16 blown saves. They are ranked 2nd in baseball holding a save rate of 69.2%, and they have sent 423 bullpen pitchers to the hill so far this season. Tampa Bay has had relief pitchers step onto the mound in 52 save opportunities and they have earned 36 saves.

The Tampa Bay Rays have twisted 110 double plays and have notched a fielding percentage of .986 (9th in the majors). The Rays have accrued 1,131 assists, 68 errors and have earned 3,592 putouts for the year. Out of their 10,776 innings on the diamond, the Rays have a defensive efficiency of 70.1% (10th in professional baseball).

During his MLB career, Wacha has allowed 1,010 hits while he has earned 887 punch outs in 996 innings. Wacha (62-47 win-loss mark in his career) has earned a 4.17 earned run average and has surrendered 9.1 hits per 9 innings. He has conceded 462 ER's while holding a WHIP of 1.349 and a FIP of 4.1. He has a K/BB ratio of 2.66 and he has gone up against 4,266 hitters in his MLB career.

Who will win tonight's baseball game against the spread?

Tony Sink's Pick: Take Minnesota (+140)

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