First pitch: Monday, 10:10 p.m. ET
Line: Minnesota +205, Los Angeles -225, Total: 9.5

The Twins will be hoping to turn things around with a win over the Dodgers in Los Angeles on Monday.

The Twins are really struggling right now, as they have now lost five of their past nine games. Minnesota hasn’t suffered a bad losing streak yet, but this team is losing ground in the AL Central. The Twins now trail both the Indians and the Royals in the division, and they’ll need to get themselves going very soon. That won’t be easy against a Dodgers team that has won eight of its past 10 though. The starters in Monday night’s game are going to be RHP Bartolo Colon (2-9, 8.19 ERA, 45 K) for Minnesota and LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu (3-6, 4.21 ERA, 69 K) for Los Angeles. Colon has been miserable this season, but it wouldn’t be crazy to see him turn things around. He was rock solid a year ago and has been doing this for a long time. Ryu, meanwhile, is not the type of guy that will take the Dodgers out of a game. That’s all the team can ask for with the way the bats are going right now. One trend that stands out when looking at this game is that Minnesota is 23-15 against the money line as a road underdog of +100 or higher this season. Los Angeles is, however, an absurd 41-12 against the money line as a home favorite of -110 or higher on the year.

The Twins are struggling right now and they’ll send the veteran Colon to the hill to get them a victory on Monday. Colon has seen his ERA rise from 5.59 on Apr. 28 to 8.19 on Jul. 18. He is in the midst of the worst season of his professional career and he needs to get things going fast. Minnesota is not going to be very patient with him, so he is definitely in danger of losing his job at this point. On offense, one guy to keep an eye on for the Twins is 3B Miguel Sano (272 BA, 23 HR, 68 RBI). Sano has crushed lefties this season, batting .306 with six homers and 17 RBI in 85 at-bats. He should be extra excited to see Ryu on the mound in this one. 2B Brian Dozier (.253 BA, 16 HR, 48 RBI) is also a threat to make things happen up there on Monday. Dozier has been on a tear lately, as he is on a nine-game hitting streak entering this one. Dozier has gotten two or more hits in four of those nine games, and he has also gone yard three times in that span.

The Dodgers are the hottest team in baseball and they’ll hope that Ryu can keep them rolling on Monday. The lefty has been good for Los Angeles lately, allowing two earned runs in each of his past three starts. The Dodgers went 2-1 in those games, and they’d love yet another performance like that one here. It would, however, be huge if he can pitch at least six innings on Monday. He has not done that since a start against the Nationals on Jun. 5. Offensively, the Dodgers to keep an eye out for in this one are 3B Justin Turner (.367 BA, 11 HR, 40 RBI), SS Corey Seager (.293 BA, 16 HR, 50 RBI), and OF Cody Bellinger (.269 BA, 27 HR, 64 RBI). All three of these guys have been nothing short of spectacular this season, and they can each do damage at the plate on Monday. They haven’t faced a pitcher that is throwing quite as poorly as Colon this season, so it wouldn’t be shocking to see Los Angeles put up a big number in this one.