The Minnesota Twins are on the road tonight when they take on the Cincinnati Reds in Major League Baseball action. The game is scheduled for a 7:10 p.m. start time and it will be televised live on MLB.tv. Currently the odds for the game have the Reds favored to pick up the win in this one at home.
The surprising Minnesota Twins sit in second place in the American League Central, 5.5 games behind the Kansas City Royals. They're five games over the .500 mark for the campaign and will look to improve on their less than great road record this season. The Twins are just 15-20 away from home and will take on a Reds team tonight that is pretty good at home, sporting a record of 20-14.
The Reds find themselves six games under the .500 mark overall and they are now 16.5 games outside of first place. It doesn't help that the St. Louis Cardinals are running away with the division, basically giving the Reds no shot.
Tonight Cincinnati sends Mike Leake to the mound. He's 5-4 with a 3.91 ERA this season. In seven home starts this year Leake's ERA is 5.18 and he has a 2-2 record. Current Twins have an average of just .158 against him in 19 plate appearances. Trevor Plouffe has homered off of him while Joe Mauer and Kurt Suzuki both have base hits.
The Twins will send Mike Pelfrey to the mound. He's 5-4 with a very solid 3.06 ERA, but his road splits show Pelfrey has an ERA that's 2.5 runs higher on the road. Current Reds own an average of .303 against him in 66 plate appearances with Brandon Phillips leading the way. Phillips has seven hits, including a home run, in 19 at bats. Joey Votto has clubbed three home runs off of Pelfrey in his career as well.
The Reds play well at home, Minnesota is not a good team on the road and that will show again tonight.
Free Pick: Reds
Stop the All-Star Game Ballot Stuffing
Pro handicappers Teddy Covers and Steve Fezzik have a bone to pick with MLB Commisioner Bud Selig, who decided the All-Star exhibition game will determine World Series home field advantage. With Royals fans currently voting seven Kansas City players into the starting line up of the American League team, this popularity-based roster of an exhibition game which has way too much impact on the most important baseball series of the year.
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