Minnesota Twins vs. Toronto Blue Jays AL Wild Card Game 1 odds, tips and betting trends

The Minnesota Twins meet the Toronto Blue Jays in the opening game of the AL Wild Card Series on Tuesday 4:38 PM ET at Target Field.

The Twins are favored (-115) in an expected evenly matched game against the Blue Jays (-105). The Minnesota Twins will hand the ball to Pablo Lopez (11-8), but the Blue Jays’ starting pitcher has not been announced yet.

The Twins lost their most recent game against the Rockies by a 3-2 score Tuesday. Alex Kirilloff went 2-for-3 with an RBI to lead them offensively. Jordan Luplow picked up the loss after throwing 1/3 of an inning without giving up a hit or an earned run.

The Blue Jays were defeated by the Rays 12-8 Tuesday. Tyler Heineman led the way offensively after going 2-for-3 with a triple and three RBI in the defeat, while Wes Parsons took the loss on the mound, throwing four innings, giving up nine earned runs on 10 hits while striking out three.

Prepare for this postseason matchup between the Twins vs. Blue Jays with everything you need to know, including viewing options.

Minnesota Twins vs. Toronto Blue Jays odds and betting lines

BetMGM Sportsbook. Odds updated Sunday at 9:16 PM ET. For a full list of sports betting odds, access USA TODAY Sports Betting Scores Odds Hub.

• Favorite: Twins (-115, bet $115 to win $100)
• Underdog: Blue Jays (-105, bet $105 to win $100)

• The Twins have been favorites in 112 games this season and won 67 (59.8%) of those contests.
• Minnesota has a record of 66-43 in games when oddsmakers favor them by at least -115 on the moneyline.
• The moneyline for this contest implies a 53.5% chance of a victory for the Twins.
• Games involving Minnesota has gone over the total set by sportsbooks in 81 of 162 chances this season.
• The Twins are 81-81-0 against the spread in their 162 chances this season.

• Lopez gets the start for the Twins, his 33rd of the season. He is 11-8 with a 3.71 ERA and 234 strikeouts in 194 2/3 innings pitched.
• The right-hander last pitched on Wednesday against the Oakland Athletics, when he tossed 4 1/3 innings, allowing three earned runs while giving up five hits.
• In 32 games this season, the 27-year-old has amassed an ERA of 3.71, with 10.9 strikeouts per nine innings. Opponents are batting .238 against him.
• Lopez enters this matchup with 20 quality starts under his belt this season.
• Lopez will look to collect his 30th outing of five or more innings pitched this season. He’s averaging 6.1 innings per appearance.
• He has had six appearances this season in which he held his opponents to zero earned runs.
• The opposing Blue Jays offense has a collective .256 batting average, and is seventh in the league with 1422 total hits and 14th in MLB play with 746 runs scored. It has the 13th-ranked slugging percentage (.416) and ranks 16th in home runs (188) in all of MLB.
• Head-to-head against the Blue Jays this season, Lopez has thrown 5 2/3 innings, giving up four earned runs on five hits while striking out six.
• Among qualifying pitchers in MLB action this season, the 27-year-old’s 3.71 ERA ranks 22nd, 1.155 WHIP ranks 16th, and 10.9 K/9 ranks fifth.

• The Twins’ 233 home runs rank third in Major League Baseball.
• Fueled by 521 extra-base hits, Minnesota ranks seventh in MLB with a .427 slugging percentage this season.
• The Twins have a team batting average of .243 this season, which ranks 21st among MLB teams.
• Minnesota has scored 778 runs this season, which ranks 10th in MLB.
• The Twins have an OBP of .325 this season, which ranks 12th in MLB.
• Minnesota ranks last in MLB in strikeouts per game with an average of 10.2 whiffs per contest.

• The Blue Jays have been underdogs in 42 games this season and have come away with the win 23 times (54.8%) in those contests.
• This season, Toronto has been victorious 17 times in 32 chances when named as an underdog of at least -105 or longer on the moneyline.
• The Blue Jays have an implied victory probability of 51.2% according to the moneyline set by sportsbooks for this matchup.
• Toronto and its opponents have gone over the total this season in 71 of its 162 opportunities.
• The Blue Jays are 75-87-0 against the spread in their 162 games that had a posted line this season.

• The Blue Jays rank 16th in MLB action with 188 total home runs.
• So far this year, Toronto ranks 13th in the majors with a .416 slugging percentage.
• The Blue Jays rank eighth in MLB with a .256 batting average.
• The offense for Toronto is the No. 14 offense in baseball, scoring 4.6 runs per game (746 total runs).
• The Blue Jays are seventh in MLB with an on-base percentage of .329.