Minnesota Twins vs Pittsburgh Pirates Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 05/31/26

The Minnesota Twins and the Pittsburgh Pirates have given fans a great series at PNC Park, with the home team winning 6-5 and 10-9 across the first 2 game. Those contests included plenty of offensive outbursts, but the recent play of Zebby Matthews and Braxton Ashcroft could provide us with an intriguing pitching matchup in the final game of the series.

Matthews has just 3 starts this season, but he looks to be on the way to his best season in his 3-year MLB career — going 6+ innings in each of the appearances and owning a 2.37 ERA. The righty’s underlying numbers are great, as he doesn’t give up a ton of hard contact, and he has great control. It’s a perfect mix for him to put the Twins in a position to take at least 1 of the 3 games from the Pirates and avoid the sweep.

Matthews isn’t the only starter in this game with great underlying numbers. Ashcraft’s 2.94 xERA proves that his success this season is no fluke and that the team’s choice to transition him into the rotation full-time was a great decision. The righty allowed just 1 earned run in 6+ innings in each of his past 2 starts.

We’ll take the pitching matchup in this game and back the bats to go cold.

Twins vs Pirates prediction: Under 7.5 (-105) available at time of publishing. Playable to that number. 

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