The Toronto Blue Jays hope to grab a series win against the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday.
The pregame narrative: Toronto blew a 4-0 lead on Tuesday thanks to an all-around poor effort from the bullpen. Eric Lauer rejoins the rotation to make the start tonight at home, where he’s been lights out all year.
Check out my Blue Jays best bets vs. the Twins for Aug. 27, featuring a prop bet on Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Blue Jays best bets vs. Twins
Best bet: Blue Jays F5 -0.5 (-143)
There is some juice to pay on this line, but the Jays have a pitching advantage. And this is the best way to take advantage of it without relying on Toronto’s horrid bullpen.
- Lauer has been outstanding this season, posting a 2.76 ERA in 14 starts (20 appearances).
- He’s been even better at home with a 2.45 ERA and 9.8 K/9.
- Earlier this season, Lauer made an appearance out of the pen vs. the Twins and gave up just one hit over 2.1 innings.
Tonight’s starter for Minnesota, Simeon Woods Richardson (4.24 ERA), had his season derailed by an illness that forced him to miss a month of action.
The right-hander makes his return against the Jays after making two minor league appearances, where he allowed four runs over 5.1 innings.
The former Blue Jays prospect made one start against Toronto last season and gave up five earned runs over 4.1 IP.
Key stat: Since the all-star break, Toronto has an MLB-best .293 team batting average. Minnesota is collectively batting .228 during that time.
Jays prop bet
Guerrero Jr. over 1.5 bases (-113): Guerrero has just one hit in 10 at-bats since returning to the lineup following a hamstring injury, but I fully expect him to get back to the monumental heater he was on before getting hurt.
- Even with the last three games included, he’s slashing .344/.411/.648 since the Midsummer Classic.
- In a small three-at-bat sample size, he has three singles off Woods Richardson in his career.
Guerrero is elite at taking free passes, while Woods Richardson has a 10.0% walk rate. But I’m still expecting the slugging first baseman to see plenty of quality pitches to hit in this one.
Additionally, the Twins have the ninth-worst bullpen ERA in the majors (4.24).
In Woods Richardson’s one outing against the Jays last season, Guerrero was the one who did most of the damage, posting four hits in five plate appearances, breezing past this line.
Blue Jays best bets made at 9:05 a.m. ET on 08/27/2025.
Spencer is a true sports junkie. A graduate of the Sports Journalism program at Centennial College, he first joined NorthStar Gaming as an intern in 2023. He is now a contributing writer. He loves finding the edge to bet on in all sports but has a deep passion for the NBA and UFC. Previous stops include Sportsnet.