The Twins come into Boston tonight as winners of seven of their last eight, but the bookmakers are giving them very little respect. Minnesota is an enormous underdog to a Red Sox team that has an inferior record, and has lost six of it's last seven. I'll take the hot team as the underdog here in tonight's contest.


Here are my keys to the game:

1. Pitching - Boston will hand the ball to Clay Buchholz, who has really struggled at home this year. Buchholz (2-6, 4.33 ERA) allowed two runs on seven hits over 7.1 frames in a 2-1 loss at Minnesota his last time out. He's 0-4 with a 4.24 ERA in four starts at Fenway so far. The Twins counter with Mike Pelfrey, who was opposite Buchholz in that 2-1 Twins victory last week. Pelfrey (4-1, 2.77 ERA) has won back-to-back starts, allowing just two runs on 10 hits over 13 innings.

2. Batter vs. Pitcher - Pablo Sandoval and Hanley Ramirez are both hitting just .200 versus Pelfrey over a combined 70 at bats.

3. X-Factor - While the Red Sox swept the Twins at Fenway earlier this year, all three games were decided by one run.

Selection: This is a play on the Minnesota Twins +1.5 (8*)