Mets-Twins prediction: Picks, odds on Friday, September 8

The New York Mets (64-75) and Minnesota Twins (73-67) will begin a three-game weekend series tonight. First pitch for this interleague matchup is scheduled for 8:10 p.m. ET at Target Field in Minneapolis. Righty Kodai Senga (10-7, 3.08 ERA) will get the nod for the Mets and go up against Twins lefty Dallas Keuchel (1-1, 5.06 ERA).

New York has won four of its last six games heading into the weekend and split a quick two-game series against Washington earlier in the week. The Met’s bats got to work in a 11-5 victory on Tuesday before a Jacob Young walkoff RBI single doomed them to a 3-2 loss on Wednesday. The Mets sit eight games back of the Diamondbacks for the final NL Wild Card spot — and if they were to make one final push for the postseason, it would need to start with this series.

Minnesota picked up a big series victory against Cleveland earlier in the week and are now 6.5 games ahead of them at the top of the AL Central standings. The Twins outscored the Guardians 28-9 through the first two games of the set before falling flat in a 2-1 loss in the series finale on Wednesday.

This game is a pick ‘em on the moneyline over at DraftKings Sportsbook, with the Mets and Twins both listed at -110. The run total is set at 8.5.

Mets-Twins picks: Friday, September 8

Injury report

Mets

Day-To-Day: OF DJ Stewart (back)
Out: OF Starling Marte (groin), 2B Luis Guillorme (calf), RP John Curtiss (elbow), RP Elieser Hernandez (pectoral), 2B Luis Guillorme (calf)

Twins

Out: SP Chris Paddack (elbow), DH Byron Buxton (knee), 3B Jose Miranda (shoulder), 1B Alex Kirilloff (shoulder), RP Brock Stewart (elbow), OF Nick Gordon (tibia), RP Jose De Leon (elbow), RP Oliver Ortega (back), OF Michael Taylor (hamstring)

Starting pitchers

Kodai Senga vs. Dallas Keuchel

Senga has been one of the lone bright spots for New York over the past month and showed it in his start against Seattle last Friday. He was dominant in his seven innings of work, punching out 12 Mariners batters while being tagged with just five hits including a solo home run. Despite his success, a blind spot for him has been leadoff batters, who are hitting .309 off the righty for the season. He’ll have to be extra cautious when going up against promising Twins rookie Edouard Julien tonight.

Keuchel has been hit or miss since making his season debut a month ago and his start last Saturday against Texas was definitely a miss. The 2015 AL Cy Young winner lasted just 3.1 innings and gave up five earned runs off five hits. Fortunately for him, the Twins’ bats got to work and eventually pulled out a 9-7 victory in extra innings. Right-handed hitters are batting .306 with an .846 OPS against him this season, so that’s an area of concern for the lefty heading into tonight’s contest.

Over/Under pick

Both clubs have had excellent weeks at the plate, ranking in the top five of both team batting average and OPS. 8.5 should be an easy bar to clear with the way they’ve been hitting and I’ll lean towards the over.

Pick: Over 8.5

Moneyline pick

When it comes to the starting pitching battle, I trust Senga to put together a more quality start than Kuechel. Like last Saturday, the Twins could be in a position where they have to dip into their bullpen by the fifth inning and that could put them behind the eight-ball for the rest of the contest. I’m taking the Mets in tonight’s opener.