Who is favored in Texas Rangers at Minnesota Twins?

Texas Rangers are favored on the moneyline.

Who is predicted to win Texas Rangers at Minnesota Twins?

Our pick is Texas Rangers. On game 162, Texas can go to every arm in its bullpen, while Minnesota is an eliminated team heading into the offseason. As the lineups post and the Twins' finale-day card comes out, the Rangers' price should keep shortening.

Texas Rangers at Minnesota Twins

By JR·2 min read

TEX(80-81)

MIN(76-85)

Sunday2:10 PM CT

TLDR: Texas takes the AL West race into the last day of the season, and it has to be settled against a Twins team that has nothing left to play for. The Rangers are 80-81 with a division title within reach, and they're about to find out how they react to that.

SUN SEP 27, 2:10 PM

Spread

WIN

Total

Rangers

(80-81)

WLWLL

Twins

(76-85)

LWWWL

The AL West goes to the final day, and Texas finishes it at Target Field against a Minnesota team that is already eliminated. MacKenzie Gore faces Dean Kremer, who has been sharp in his last 3 starts, while the Rangers try to cover for a lineup that has lost Josh Jung and Nicky Lopez in the last 2 days. Houston holds the tiebreaker, so the Rangers also need help on the scoreboard.

Rangers

Bottom of order went 6-for-11 in Saturday's win
Whole bullpen available with the season on the line
Gore allowed 1 earned run in his last start
Jung out with fractured hand, Lopez left hurt Saturday
Gore struck out only 2 in his last start
Pen covered 4⅔ innings behind Eovaldi Saturday

Twins

Kremer has allowed 2 runs or fewer in 3 straight starts
Put 10 runs on this Rangers staff Friday
Eliminated, likely running out a finale-day lineup
Buxton and Larnach out of the lineup
Ober gave up 4 runs in one inning Saturday

MacKenzie Gore (8-11, 4.59) gets the ball for the finale at 2:10 PM CT. His last start against the Mets was fine: 5 innings, 1 earned run, 77 pitches. It also had only 2 strikeouts, which fits a season where he's been more survivable than dominant. Dean Kremer (4-5, 4.97) goes for Minnesota, and his ERA undersells how he's been lately. He's allowed 2 runs or fewer in each of his last 3 starts, and last time out he held the Angels to 1 hit over 6 scoreless innings with 8 strikeouts. He did walk 3 in that one.

MacKenzie Gore

(8-11)·4.59 ERA

Sep 22 vs Mets

5.0IP

1ER

1BB

77P

09/27 Lineup

Dean Kremer

(4-5)·4.97 ERA

Sep 20 @ Angels

6.0IP

0ER

3BB

96P

09/27 Lineup

The Rangers lineup Gore is pitching for keeps getting thinner. Josh Jung is on the 10-day IL with a fractured right hand, and Joc Pederson is still only facing live batting practice. Nicky Lopez left Saturday's game in the 4th inning with a left ankle/heel injury, although he vowed to be ready for Sunday. That makes Texas the favorite on the road with a patched-together bottom of the order, and that's what the board is pricing.

The bottom of that order won Saturday's game, though. After a 2-hour, 1-minute rain delay, the Rangers' 7-8-9 hitters went a combined 6-for-11 with 4 RBIs and 4 runs, and Texas scored 4 two-out runs in the 2nd inning against Bailey Ober. Danny Jansen homered and drove in 2, and Jake Burger hit his team-leading 28th homer. That came 1 night after Minnesota beat them 10-2.

The stakes are all on one side. Saturday's win put Texas a half-game ahead of Houston when it went final, but the Astros hold the head-to-head tiebreaker, so the division comes down to both teams' results on the last day. The Rangers will also be pitching tired. Nathan Eovaldi made his first appearance since August 7 on Saturday and only got through 4⅓ innings, and Robert Garcia covered 1⅔ scoreless to get the win. On the final day of the season, though, nobody on the staff is being saved for anything.

Minnesota finishes a lost season without Byron Buxton (season-ending hip surgery) or Trevor Larnach, and with a rotation that lost Pablo Lopez, David Festa and Mick Abel months ago. Kremer is the Twins' best reason to watch today. If he pitches the way he has for the last 3 turns, a Texas lineup missing Jung could have to win this in the late innings. The Twins already split the first 2 games of this set, so they've shown they can beat this club.

Live Odds