Rangers vs. Twins prediction and odds for Saturday, Aug. 26

The Twins handed the Rangers an eighth consecutive loss on Friday night, as Texas is now tied for its division lead with the surging Mariners.

Minnesota has all but wrapped up the AL Central, and now will look to bolster its standing against potential postseason opponents. Starter Joe Ryan will get a look at the Rangers offense that comes in struggling at the plate while Texas counters with trade deadline acquisition Max Scherzer.

While the Rangers can't seem to buy a win, I'm eyeing the total as my point of attack in this matchup:

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Rangers vs. Twins odds, run line and total

Rangers vs. Twins prediction and pick

This season the Rangers grade out as a top three offense across nearly all major hitting metrics, but the team has slumped to a league average one over the last 15 days, per MLB.com as the team has lost ground in a heated three-team race for the AL West.

Minnesota will start Joe Ryan, the team's struggling foundational piece of the rotation. After a hot start to the year, Ryan has battled injuries and an inflated ERA that is at 8.53 over his four starts since the All-Star break. However, Ryan has been a positive regression candidate and this could be the perfect landing spot for him.

After more than three weeks on the injured list, Ryan should show improved velocity and pitch more to his expectation on Saturday. While the right hander has an ERA of 4.43, his xERA is far lower at 3.28.

While the Twins enter as the best hitting team over the last 15 days, I'm going to side with Scherzer and the Rangers defense to keep this game low scoring. The former Cy Young winner looks refreshed in Texas, allowing three or fewer earned runs in four starts. This is still a Twins lineup that grades out as an average group across the balance of a season.

I'm going to trust both pitchers on Saturday to pitch well in a potential playoff preview.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

Track Reed's bets here!