MLB Odds: Twins, Rays in AL Wild Card Chase
MLB Odds: Twins, Rays Heat up Playoff Race
With fewer than 30 games left to go in the regular season, the American League playoff race is getting intense. The Minnesota Twins (63-61, +14.34 units) have won four straight games to climb within 1.5 games of the last AL Wild Card berth, and the Tampa Bay Rays (62-62, –2.19 units) are another game back after winning three of four. They'll meet Wednesday night at the Tropicana Field. First pitch is at 7:10 PM ET.
The Rays are expected to start ace righty Chris Archer (2.57 FIP) on Wednesday, but as well as Archer has pitched this year, Tampa is just 15-11 in his 26 starts for a paltry 0.77 units in earnings. The Rays have given him just 3.81 runs of support per game, including the lone run in Thursday's complete-game 1-0 shutout win over the Houston Astros (–113 at home), who managed one single off Archer while striking out 11 times.
Minnesota will go with rookie northpaw Tyler Duffey (4.08 FIP), who will make his fourth MLB start since getting called up from AAA-Rochester. Duffey is 2-1 in the bigs, winning each of his last two games while allowing only two earned runs in 13.2 innings combined.
