The set-up: The Twins opened this three-game series at Texas having lost six of their previous seven games but have beaten the Rangers 3-2 (Mon.) and 8-1 (Tue.). These back-to-back losses for Texas has but a sudden halt to the four-game winning streak the team had when it opened the new week. Texas now looks to avoid getting swept in Arlington by the Twins for the first time in 41 years on Wednesday night! However, more trouble may be looming for the Rangers, as the Twins have now won seven of the last eight meetings between the teams dating to last season.

The pitching matchup: A pair of left-handers take the mound tonight at Globe Life Park, Hector Santiago (2-1 & 2.19 ERA) for Minnesota and Cole Hamels (1-0 & 2.77 ERA). Santiago continued his string of strong outings this season on Friday, recording his third straight quality start, earning a 6-3 win over Detroit. He has a 17-4 KW ratio through four starts, with an 0.97 WHIP and ,217 BAA. He's made 17 starts against the Rangers in his career, going 7-4 with a 4.15 ERA (teams are 10-7). Cole Hamels is off his best performance this season on Friday, allowing one run on three hits in eight innings of a 6-2 win over Kansas City. Not that Hamels had pitched all that poorly in his first three, but Texas had lost each of those three starts. That's quite a change from last season, when the Rangers were 24-8 in Hamels' 32 starts (plus-$1469, which ranked 4th-best among all starters). He's faced the Twins just five times in his career without much success, going 1-1 with a 6.92 ERA (teams are 2-3).

The pick: Santiago is off to a great start for the Twins in 2017 and Hamels finally looked like his "old self" in his last outing. Make the Under a 10* play.