Tampa Bay Rays vs. Minnesota Twins Picks and Prediction for Friday April 3 2026
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Baseball is back in Minnesota, which has its season opener on Friday, after playing Baltimore and Kansas City to open the season. The Rays (2-4) continue their road appearances as they fell at St. Louis (1-2 series) and Milwaukee (1-2). Minnesota is 1-4 on the season before Thursday's action. Stay tuned for this Rays vs. Twins prediction. Last season, these teams split in six games, going 3-3. These teams meet on Friday at 4:10 pm ET from Target Field. Check out more free baseball predictions and picks from Winners and Whiners.
*published before Thursday's results
Rays are rebuilding again
Tampa Bay is +8000 to win the World Series and +2000 to win the AL East, so expectations are not high this season. To make matters worse, they are playing their first nine games on the road, before they return home on April 6. The good news is that they'll be playing at a repaired Tropicana Field, which was damaged by Hurricane Milton in October 2024. ast season, they played at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa, which is a minor league stadium. The Rays have lost two straight games, including an 8-2 defeat at Milwaukee on Wednesday. Yandy Diaz hit his second home run for the Rays and that was one of the few bright spots. The other was a solid start by Drew Rasmussen, who allowed one earned run and two hits in five innings. Griffin Jax was tagged with the loss after allowing five runs (three earned) and did not record an out. .
The Rays are expected to send Joe Boyle to the mound. He was solid in his first start against St. Louis, allowing two runs and three hits in six innings, but the Rays fell 6-5. Boyle was 0-3 with a 7.94 ERA last season on the road and had a 2.15 ERA at home. He was 1-4 with a 4.67 ERA in nine starts in 52 innings for the Rays. The 6-8, 250-pound 26-year-old was 3-6 with a 6.42 ERA with Oakland in 2024, but has never started more than 10 games in one season. 
Minnesota is struggling as well
The Twins opened up with Baltimore, losing two of three on the road. They followed that with two more losses at Kansas City (before Thursday), falling 13-9 on Wednesday. Ace Joe Ryan struggled in his second start, allowing nine hits and five runs in four innings. The bullpen didn't help matters as they allowed eight runs (four earned) and two home runs in four innings.
The Twins have had just four homers in five games, with Royce Lewis leading with two dingers. Josh Bell leads in RBIs with four. Bailey Ober (6-9, 260) is set to start for the Twins. In his first start, he went four innings and allowed four hits and three runs. Last season, he went 6-9 with a 5.10 ERA and allowed 30 homers. At home, he was 2-6 with a 5.12 ERA. Opponents hit .275 against him and had a .494 slugging percentage.
Spread Pick for Rays vs. Twins
Rays vs. Twins Prediction
- Tampa Bay (4 units)
This is not a preview of the American League Championship series, that's for sure. Minnesota had to play on Thursday, so there may be some fatigue issues flying in from Kansas City. Boyle has faced seven Twins and has allowed just two hits in his career against them. Ober has faced five Rays' hitters in his career and they have six hits in 29 at-bats. The Rays are used to being on the road.
| # | Handicapper | Profit |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Nick Parsons | +2,504.00 |
| 2 |  Mark Zinno | +1,729.00 |
| 3 |  Rob Vinciletti | +1,001.00 |
| 4 |  Mike Lundin | +572.00 |
| 5 |  Stephen Nover | +258.00 |
Over/Under Picks for Rays vs. Twins
- Over (4 units)
These are two mediocre pitchers and the bullpens are not much better. Tampa Bay has gone over in two straight and six of seven games going back to last season. Minnesota just allowed 13 runs to the Royals and Ober allowed 30 home runs, including 17 at home last season. It doesn't matter if they were lefties or right-handers, they all hit at least .274 against him last year.
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