MLB Baseball
2026-08-12 - Baltimore Orioles at Minnesota Twins
A Sports Betting Pick by FirstDown
United States : Major League Baseball
Wednesday 12th August 2026 - Scheduled 1:40pm EST
6:40pm (British Time)
Preview
After dropping the opener of this important series, the Baltimore Orioles (58-62) bounced back to level things up with the Minnesota Twins (59-62) and both teams are still right in the thick of things in the American League Wild Card race.
They meet one more time on Wednesday and each game against a rival for one of the Wild Card positions takes on added importance.
The Orioles will give the ball to Shane Baz who has a 4-11 record this season, but with a 3.76 ERA in twenty-three starts. This is the first season with the Baltimore Orioles and Shane Baz has an ERA which is over 1.00 lower than his last season with the Tampa Bay Rays and the record would reflect that if he had been given more run support over the course of the season.
Shane Baz has a 0-3 record in his last seven starts for Baltimore, but the ERA is down at 2.55 in that time, while he has made two starts in August and given up three runs in over 14 Innings thrown, but still been handed decision defeats both times.
The first start of the season saw Shane Baz allow four runs into the 6th Inning against the Minnesota Twins, but he did not factor into the decision that day.
More run support will be needed to back up the performances on the mound, but Shane Baz may take some confidence from the fact the Orioles have scored five runs in each of the two games in this series.
The Minnesota Twins will counter by handing the ball to Zebby Matthews who has a 5-8 record and 5.23 ERA in fifteen starts this season.
The third year pitcher is still finding his way in the Major League, but he has recovered from a really difficult outing last month when allowing eight earned runs against the Chicago Cubs. Zebby Matthews has a 1-1 record with a 4.50 ERA in his three starts since being knocked around by the Cubs and he will take something from those outings.
It is the first time Zebby Matthews is facing the Baltimore Orioles since his rookie season when allowing six runs in 3 Innings thrown.
Baltimore have taken three of the five season meetings between these two American League rivals.
Prediction
The first two games have been split in this series, but the Baltimore Orioles can back up their win from Tuesday.
Shane Baz may not have a record that leaps off the page for a positive reason, but he is pitching very well and will be hoping the Orioles have kept some runs to back up his own level of performance.
Baltimore can get after Zebby Matthews and the Orioles look like an underdog that can get the better of the host Minnesota Twins.
The Pick :
Minnesota Twins 2-5 Baltimore Orioles
