Game: Minnesota Twins @ Los Angeles Dodgers
Time: 10:10 p.m.
Odds: Twins +177, Dodgers -193
Total: 8
Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander Clayton Kershaw takes the mound tonight with a heavy heart. Kershaw’s mother, Marianne Tombaugh, passed away earlier this week. Kershaw made the decision to stay with the team. He will likely join the bereavement list after his home start against the Minnesota Twins tonight.
Kershaw is tied for the most victories in the National League and he is 6-2 with a 2.36 ERA. He enters Tuesday’s game coming off a win on Wednesday at Milwaukee. Against the Brewers, he allowed one run on five hits over seven innings. He has 56 strikeouts and 10 walks in 49.2 innings this season.
The start against Milwaukee was a welcome sight after allowing five walks on May 5 in a start against San Diego. Kershaw lasted a season-low 4.2 innings and the Dodgers lost 5-2. It is one of only two losses in Kershaw’s eight starts this season. In his lone career start against the Twins in the 2022 season opener, Kershaw pitched a perfect seven innings while striking out 13 batters.
On Monday, the Dodgers defeated the Twins 9-8 in a wild 12-inning game thanks to two home runs from Max Muncy, one from Will Smith, and a game-ending, bases-loaded walk by Trayce Thompson. This season, Muncy has four multi-homer games and he leads the majors in home runs with 14. The Dodgers will attempt to win their season-best seventh straight game tonight and its 11th straight at home.
Right-hander Bailey Ober will take the mound for the Twins in a bid to halt the Dodgers’ surge. On Thursday against the Padres, Ober (2-0, 1.85), who began the season at Triple-A Saint Paul, pitched well despite allowing three runs over six innings on a season-high 96 pitches. Ober let up more than one run for the first time in any of his four major league starts this season, despite Minnesota coming back to win the game 5-3. In his three seasons in the major league, Ober has not faced the Dodgers.
The Twins are in a comfortable position despite their setback last night. They swept the Padres and the Chicago Cubs in consecutive series, but only after dropping the opening game. The difference here is that both of those series were played at home at Target Field in Minneapolis. On the road, the Twins are just 9-11 so far this season.
For the Twins on Monday, Christian Vazquez and Jorge Polanco each collected three hits. In the eighth inning, Polanco blasted a solo home run and Trevor Larnach launched a three-run shot to knot the game at 6-6. With the loss, Minnesota is now 4-2 SU in its last six games. The Twins are 0-10 SU in their last 10 games against the Dodgers and Minnesota is just 3-9 SU in its last 12 games on the road.
Los Angeles is 10-0 SU in their last 10 games at home. The Dodgers are also 7-0 SU in their last seven against Minnesota at home.
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