Who's ready for some baseball to kick off the weekend? In an American League battle, the Boston Red Sox will take on the Minnesota Twins in the first contest of a three-game set. Join us for our MLB odds series where our Red Sox-Twins prediction and pick will be made.

Entering Friday's play, the Red Sox were looking to sweep the San Francisco Giants after taking two of three from the Chicago Cubs but fell a little short when they were defeated by a score of 3-1. Still, Boston possesses an above-average 18-14 mark which is good enough to put them in third-place of the AL East. At the moment, the Red Sox are 2.5 games behind the first-place Baltimore Orioles in the division. Looking to get back on track, Boston will plan on sending out Tanner Houck who is 3-2 with a 1.60 ERA on the season.

Meanwhile, the Minnesota Twins may in fact be the hottest team in all of North America. Most recently, the “Win Twins” have won ten straight which is by far the longest winning streak in all of Major League Baseball. With their victorious ways of late, the Twins have managed to improve their overall mark to 17-13 and are 2.5 games back of the Cleveland Guardians for the top spot in the AL Central. Projected to get the start on the bump for Minnesota will be RHP Chris Paddack who is 2-1 with a 5.88 ERA.

Here are the MLB Odds, courtesy of FanDuel. 

MLB Odds: Red Sox-Twins Odds

Boston Red Sox: -1.5 (+158)

Moneyline: +100

Minnesota Twins: +1.5 (-192)

Moneyline: -118

Over: 8 (-105)

Under: 8 (-115)

How to Watch Red Sox vs. Twins 

Time: 8:15 ET/5:15 PT

TV: MLB.TV

Stream: fuboTV (Click for free trial)

Why The Red Sox Will Cover The Spread/Win

While the talk of the town will be about the Twins and their lengthy winning streak, let's not forget that the Red Sox have been on a tear themselves. Of course, Boston does happen to be coming off a loss, but if anyone is going to knock Minnesota off their high horse, look no further than the Red Sox.

If Boston is going to steal this one away from home, then they will need a masterful pitching performance to help silence not only the Twins bats, but their raucous home crowd too. All signs point to Tanner Houck being that guy, as the 27-year-old from St. Louis, Missouri has posted the eighth-best earned-run average up to this point and doesn't look to be slowing down anytime soon. Not to mention, but Houck has also been generating plenty of swings and misses on his pitches. In his previous trio of starts, Houck has recorded at least nine strikeouts in two of those outings. If Houck can continue down this path of domination, then he may be an All-Star come July.

At the plate, former St. Louis Cardinal Tyler O'Neil has become a bonafide power hitter for Boston. In addition to slashing .309, O'Neil has already sent nine baseballs into the bleachers, good for the third-most in all of baseball. Don't be shocked if Boston's right-fielder inflicts some serious damage at the dish come Friday evening.

Why The Twins Will Cover The Spread/Win

If there is any drawback on the Twins' scorching hot ways, it is the fact that they have played some suspect competition. Believe it or not, but Minnesota squared off against the lowly Chicago White Sox and the Los Angeles Angels who are also struggling to find their footing in the early going of the regular season. Surely, Boston will be a step up competition-wise, but there is no reason to believe that Minnesota can't take care of business.

Without a shadow of a doubt, the biggest reason why the Twins' impressive winning streak has reached double-dights has been in large part due to Ryan Jeffers. Not only does Jeffers occupy the designated hitter spot for the Twins, but he isn't afraid to catch behind the plate as well. Clearly, Jeffers is one of and if not Minnesota's best hitters right now, and he will be needed for game one of this competitive series.

Obviously, Boston pitcher Tanner Houck has been near un-hittable of late, so Mr. Chris Paddack will have to match him from the rubber every step of the way. For Paddack, consistency will need to be the name of his game. Two of his last three outings have seen Paddack give up 13 runs combined, but smack dab in the middle was a masterful shutout performance in which he dialed seven innings pitched on his way to ten strikeouts against the White Sox. If the 28-year-old can return to that form, then watch out!

Final Red Sox-Twins Prediction & Pick

With what is expected to be a jam-packed Target Field on Friday, taking the hottest team in baseball as +1.5 underdogs seems like a wise move until proven otherwise.

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Final Red Sox-Twins Prediction & Pick: Twins +1.5 (-192)