KANSAS CITY ROYALS @ MINNESOTA TWINS
Baseball : United States : MLB
Wednesday, September 8th, 2010, 8:10PM US
(1:10AM GMT)

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Kansas will try to avoid the sweep tonight, having lost 5-4 on Monday and then getting the royal beating I predicted last night, 10-3.

KANSAS CITY ROYALS (57-81) Streak: L2

The Royals will send last years AL Cy Young winner, Zach Greinke to the hill to try and avoid the sweep. Greinke has had a tough season, going 8-11 with a 3.87 ERA. The team has gone 10-18 in his 28 starts. His ERA on the road is 3.26, while his home ERA is 4.44, yet the team has gone 3-10 when starting Greinke in an away game.

Greinke hasn't done too well against the Twins in the past. In 14 starts, he has a 2-7 record with a 4.97ERA, with the team going 3-11.

MINNESOTA TWINS (82-57) Streak: W5

The Twins did exactly as I thought they would last night and thumped Kansas. The win puts them in the lead in the AL Central by 4.5 games and they will be eager to build on that. The fact that there is a chance of a sweep here will help motivation in front of a home crowd.

Brian Duensing will pitch for the Twins, and he has a 7-2 record with a tidy 2.09ERA. The left-hander opened the season throwing relief pitches from the bullpen but then got moved into the rotation in late July. In 8 starts, he has gone 4-1 with a 2.33ERA, with his team going 5-3.

He has faced Kansas on 2 occasions and won both games, with a 3.27ERA.

BETTING VERDICT

The Twins are doing amazingly in their new stadium, with the offense particularly eye-catching. They are 47-23 there and are outscoring their opponents by an average of 1.28 runs per game.

The Royals are not in the same class and I can see the Twins picking up right where they left off last night and getting the sweep!

The Pick :

Minnesota to win

FIXED ODDS BETTING :

Take Minnesota to win @ 1.67 (Pinnacle)