The Boston Red Sox, who sit atop the A.L. East Division, take on the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday night in the third of a four game series.  The Red Sox and Twins have split the first two games with Boston losing to the Twins 2 to 5 in the last game.  Boston sends pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka to the mound.  Dice-K hasn’t had a great 2009 so far with an 0 and 2 record, a 10.32 ERA, and a 2.29 WHIP.

The Minnesota Twins counter Dice-K with pitcher Kevin Slowey.  Slowey is doing very well this year even though his ERA of 4.23 isn’t that great.  His record of 6 and 1 and his WHIP of 1.39 make him the favorite in this matchup.

Here is the BetUS online sportsbook betting line for this game.

Boston Red Sox

Daisuke Matsuzaka – R                   +1 ½ -190        Ev                    O 9 -125

Minnesota Twins

Kevin Slowey – R                              -1 ½ +160        -120                 U 9 +105

Here are a few online wagering trends for this game.

The Boston Red Sox are 14 and 3 in Daisuke Matsuzaka’s last 17 starts on the road.

The Boston Red Sox are 0 and 4 in their last 4 starts versus a right handed pitcher on the road.

The Minnesota Twins are 4 and 0 in Kevin Slowey’s last 4 starts on field turf.

The Minnesota Twins are 13 and 3 in Kevin Slowey’s last 16 starts at home.

Sometimes trends are meaningless but these trends are backed up by overall stats.  Even though Slowey doesn’t have a prime ERA, his WHIP is pretty good and he has a stellar record.

The point is that Minnesota steps it up when Slowey is on the mound.  The Twins are only 3 ½ games out of first place in the A.L. Central Division and are playing pretty good ball by going 5 and 1 overall in their last 6 games.

I see Minnesota winning this game straight up with Slowey starting and Dice-K just having serious issues on the mound right now.  The Twins proved in the last game that they can beat Boston.  I say they do it again.

I’ll be betting on Minnesota to beat the Boston Red Sox at -140 in the sportsbook.