Minnesota Twins vs St. Louis Cardinals Picks and Predictions August 23rd 2024

David Festa and the Twins will host the Cardinals today at Target Field in Minneapolis, and they will be looking to extend their two-game winning streak. The Cardinals, on the other hand, have won two straight and their record of 63-64 has them 2nd in the NL Central. Andre Pallante is starting for the Cardinals.

Minnesota is currently favored on the money line, and the over/under line is sitting at 8.5 runs. APLTV will be televising Friday’s interleague matchup, and first pitch is set for 8:10 PM ET.

St. Louis vs. Minnesota Key Information

Right-hander Andre Pallante gets the start for the Cardinals today as he faces the Twins on the road. He has made 13 starts this season and has a record of 5-6 with an ERA of 4.07. In his 22 appearances, Pallante has a WHIP of 1.32 and has issued 3.5 walks per nine innings compared to 6.78 strikeouts. Pallante’s last outing was a good one, as he picked up the win after going seven innings and giving up two earned runs on four hits. Before that, he had lost two straight starts.

Heading into today’s game, the Cardinals are 24th in the league in runs scored, averaging 4.1 runs per contest. As a team, they are batting .246, which is 11th in the league, and are also near the top of the league in terms of not striking out a lot. St. Louis has been a little better at home this season, averaging 4.3 runs per game.

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Over his last seven games, Masyn Winn is batting .344 with two homers, and he has gone 11/32 during this stretch. Alec Burleson is the team’s leading home run hitter this season, as he has gone deep 21 times while batting .278. Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Gorman are tied for 2nd on the team in homers, but both are batting below .230 for the season.

Minnesota is sending right-hander David Festa to the mound today vs. the Cardinals. He has made six starts and seven appearances this season, coming in with a record of 2-2 and ERA of 4.96. Festa’s WHIP for the season is currently 1.32. In his last outing, Festa finished with a no-decision, giving up two earned runs in five innings of work. He has finished with a no-decision in each of his last three outings. Opponents are batting .248 off Festa this season, and he has a BB/9 figure of 2.48 compared to 10.74 strikeouts per nine innings.

As a team, the Twins are 6th in the league in scoring at 4.9 runs per game. They have been even better at home, averaging 5.1 runs per game. Overall, they are 8th in the league in home runs and have the 6th best team batting average in the MLB. Willi Castro and Ryan Jeffers are both among the team’s top home run hitters and are 3rd and 7th in RBIs, respectively.

Jeffers has been swinging a hot bat of late, going 5/11 in his last four games with three homers and six RBIs. Trevor Larnach is also swinging a hot bat, going 7/18 in his last six games. Carlos Santana is 2nd on the team with 18 homers but is batting just .239 for the season.

For a money-line pick, we are leaning towards the Cardinals to come out on top. And as for how we would play the over/under line, we would go with the over, as this is projected to be the 7th highest-scoring game of the day. The Twins are 12th in our projections in runs scored, and David Festa is 6th among today’s starters in projected strikeouts.

Twins Open Crucial Homestand Against Cardinals

The Minnesota Twins are set to start a vital nine-game homestand on Friday night as they seek after an American League Focal division title. Regardless of being without central participants Carlos Correa and Byron Buxton, the Twins stay sure as they face the St. Louis Cardinals in a three-game series.

Twins Relying on In the midst of Wounds

The shortfall of stars like Correa and Buxton could be a huge disaster for the Twins, however the group has figured out how to remain cutthroat on account of its profundity. Outfielder Matt Wallner stressed the group’s versatility, featuring their capacity to win even without their top players.

“It’s awesome having depth and being able to win, even without those superstars,” Wallner said.

Manager Rocco Baldelli echoed Wallner’s sentiment, expressing confidence in the team’s ability to compete regardless of who is on the field.

“It kind of stamps and further emphasizes the fact that we want our players back and healthy—but whoever we have, and we don’t care who we’re facing, we can go out and win games,” Baldelli said.

The Twins will look to continue their winning ways against the Cardinals, who arrive in Minnesota fresh off back-to-back victories over the Milwaukee Brewers.

Cardinals Enter Series With Playoff Hopes Alive

The St. Louis Cardinals come into the series with force, having recently closed out the Brewers 3-0 on Thursday. Key commitments from Nolan Arenado, who recorded his 60th RBI of the time, and RBIs from Willson Contreras and Brendan Donovan got the success.

In spite of sitting 10 games behind the Brewers in the NL Focal and only one game beneath .500, the Cardinals are not abandoning their postseason goals. Director Oli Marmol has imparted an “each game is a season finisher game” mindset inside the group.

“It’s not too early for that,” Marmol said. “We understand what the runway looks like and what’s ahead of us. But the only thing we can do is focus on the very next pitch. That’s what we’re in control of.”

The Cardinals will send right-hander Andre Pallante (5-6, 4.07 ERA) to the mound for the series opener. Pallante is coming off a strong outing against the Los Angeles Dodgers, where he allowed just two runs on four hits over seven innings. This will be his first start against the Twins, though he has made one relief appearance against them, pitching a scoreless inning.

Twins Counter With Rookie David Festa

The Twins will counter with youngster right-hander David Festa (2-2, 4.96 ERA), who will make his seventh beginning of the time. Festa is searching for his first success in quite a while in the wake of posting no-choices in his last two beginnings. In his latest appearance against the Texas Officers, Festa struck out six and strolled none more than five innings, permitting six hits.

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This will be Festa’s most memorable profession appearance against the Cardinals, yet he has shown guarantee in interleague play, with a 2-1 record and a 3.72 ERA in four games (three beginnings) against groups from the National League.

Series History and Expectations

The Twins and Cardinals haven’t faced each other since 2023, when the Twins took two of three games in a series hosted by St. Louis. Despite Minnesota winning the series, the Cardinals outscored the Twins 12-11 over the three games, indicating how closely matched these teams can be.

With the Twins meaning to set their lead in the AL Focal and the Cardinals battling to keep their season finisher trusts alive, this series could end up being a urgent one for the two groups. The Twins will shift focus over to their profundity and the arm of David Festa, while the Cardinals desire to proceed with their new accomplishment with one more solid trip from Andre Pallante.