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#969/970 UNDER 8.5 Minnesota Twins (Woods Richardson) at New York Mets (Quintana) 6:10 PM CT

Since getting swept by the Brewers in two games at home out of the All-Star break, the Twins have put together back-to-back series wins over Philadelphia at home and then at Detroit over the weekend. The offense has posted up-and-down results, but the pitching staff has allowed four or fewer runs in five of the past six games, even as the bullpen has been in one of its worst stretches of the season. Sunday’s shutout win allowed the bullpen to reset as Bailey Ober was able to complete eight innings. Simeon Woods Richardson has been impressive in 88 innings for the Twins with a 3.27 ERA and a 3.56 FIP, keeping the ball in the ballpark and providing consistently solid starts, including allowing three or fewer runs in 11 of his last 12 outings. He has a 2.86 ERA in July with only two home runs allowed while opponents have hit just .213 against him. The Mets have been one of the best teams in baseball the past two months, but the offense fell flat over the weekend with just two combined runs in back-to-back losses hosting Atlanta. That was a huge series for the Mets in the NL East and Wild Card races and falling to a 2-2 series splits after winning the first two games was a demoralizing result, particularly after missing in numerous scoring opportunities yesterday in a misleading 9-2 defeat, a game in which the Mets had nearly twice as many at-bats with runners in scoring position. The bullpen for New York has been fantastic since the All-Star break including a 2.65 ERA with a 1.04 WHIP in the past 10 games. Jose Quintana will have a difficult time maintaining his great numbers in July, but he has been a reliable option for the Mets going back to early May, with a 3.14 ERA in his last 12 starts and only one start in which he allowed more than three runs. Quintana has dramatically stronger splits in his home starts and the Twins are struggling against left-handers right now, batting just .231 with 2.9 runs per nine in the past 10 games vs. southpaws, even with a strong season record vs. left-handed starters. New York had gone eight straight games without allowing more than four runs before Sunday’s ugly outcome, but that was a rare performance as the Braves scored nine runs on eight hits and only five at-bats with runners in scoring position, ultimately hitting four home runs. Minnesota hasn’t had that type of consistent power vs. left-handers with the team hitting just 33 home runs all season vs. southpaws and the lineup possibly still missing big right-handed bats in Carlos Correa and Jose Miranda.