First pitch: Monday, 8:10 p.m. ET
Line: Seattle +110, Minnesota -120, Total: 9.5

The Twins will be looking to stay in front of the pack in the AL Central with a win over the Mariners on Monday.

Seattle has lost two straight games heading into Monday, and this team can really use a victory in this one. The Mariners are currently right in the middle of the AL West standings, and they need to put together a nice winning streak in order to position themselves better in the AL Wild Card race. The Twins, meanwhile, have now won six of their past 10 games. They have surprised many by getting out in front of the Indians in the division, and they’ll look to stay there moving forward. The starters in this Monday night matchup will be RHP Yovani Gallardo (2-6, 6.26 ERA, 49 K) for Seattle and LHP Adalberto Mejia (1-1, 4.18 ERA, 29 K) for Minnesota. One trend that favors the Mariners in this game is the fact that the Twins are a lousy 3-11 against the money line at home when the total is 9 to 9.5 this season. Minnesota is, however, an impressive 20-10 against the money line in night games this season. The Twins are also 26-19 against the money line when the line is +125 to -125 on the year.

The Mariners are struggling right now and things haven’t been much better for their starter in this game. That would be Yovani Gallardo, who has allowed 10 runs over his past two starts. Seattle really needs him to turn in a quality start on Monday or it’s not likely that the Mariners will find a way to beat a surging Twins team. Offensively, Seattle needs its best players to step up in this one. That means that both 2B Robinson Cano (.284 BA, 11 HR, 37 RBI) and DH Nelson Cruz (.298 BA, 14 HR, 46 RBI) need to be at their best here. Cano is on a four-game hitting streak entering this one, but he has just three RBI over the past 10 games. All of those came in the same game, so he must start producing more often. Cruz, meanwhile, is on a tear for Seattle. Since May 30, the slugger has seen his average rise from .279 to .298. He’ll hope to stay hot with a big game on Monday.

The Twins will be sending Adalberto Mejia to the mound on Monday, and the lefty has been solid for Minnesota this season. He has allowed three or fewer earned runs in all of his starts on the year, and the Twins really can’t ask for much more than that from the 23-year-old. He’ll just need to find a way to avoid walking too many batters. Mejia has issued two or more walks in all of seven appearances this season. That’s not good considering some of those came in relief. Offensively, one guy that has gotten it going lately is 2B Brian Dozier (.244 BA, 10 HR, 27 RBI). Dozier is on a six-game hitting streak coming into this one, and he has homered in two of those contests. This is a guy that hit 42 homers in 2016, so it’s only a matter of time before he starts to really mash.