The Twins are coming into this game with a 5 game lead in their division but they took a hit in the standings with their series loss at home to the Guardians and have not been playing as well in their recent games. They have lost their last 2 straight as well as 3 of their last 5 games as they are cooling off now and even their offense has only scored 2 runs or less in each of their last 2 as well as 3 of their last 5 games. They are going up against a Rangers team that is starting to heat up again as they have won 2 of their last 3 as well as 3 of their last 5 games and even their offense has been scoring more in those games. The Rangers are also going to be back at home here where they have been a much better team all season at 42-24 and they are going to be hungry to retake the division now that they have slipped to 3rd place in a very tight race. Max Scherzer is starting for the Rangers here and he is 12-5 with a 3.71 ERA this season. Scherzer has struggled at times this season but he has been much better since coming to Texas as he has allowed 2 earned runs or less in 3 of his last 4 starts and has not allowed more than 3 earned runs in any of his 5 starts for the Rangers. He has also been more consistent at home all season as he has allowed less runs in his home starts. Joe Ryan is starting for the Twins here and he is 9-8 with a 4.33 ERA this season. He has not been pitching well recently as he has allowed at least 4 earned runs in 3 of his last 4 as well as at least 3 earned runs in 5 of his last 6 starts. He did pitch well against the Rangers in his very last start which was also his 1st back from an injury he picked up at the start of August, but the Rangers still have one of the better offenses in the league and he will struggle in this start on the road this time in his 2nd straight start against the Rangers. The Rangers have also been playing much better on offense and they will be hungry to win this game at home and stay in the division race that has been slipping away from them in recent weeks. The Rangers will win this game at home.