Two teams off to matching 2-4 records will look to begin the climb back to .500 on Thursday afternoon when the Houston Astros visit the Minnesota Twins. It is the Twins' home opener, as well as the Astros' first venture onto the road in the 2025 MLB season. RHP Hunter Brown (0-1, 3.00 ERA) will start for Houston on the heels of an 11-9 season a year ago, while RHP Joe Ryan (0-0, 1.80) goes for Minnesota after going 7-7 in 2024. The Twins won four of six meetings last season.

First pitch from Target Field in Minneapolis is set for 4:10 p.m. ET. Minnesota is a -1140 favorite on the money line (risk $140 to win $100) in the latest Twins vs. Astros odds, per SportsLine consensus. Houston is a +118 underdog, while the over/under is 7 in the latest MLB odds.

Before making any Astros vs. Twins picks or MLB predictions, you need to see what the SportsLine Projection Model has to say.

The SportsLine Projection Model simulates every MLB game 10,000 times. It enters Week 2 of the 2025 MLB season on a 34-18 roll on top-rated run-line picks (+729). Anybody following could have seen strong returns!

The model knows that Houston's Yordan Alvarez will inevitably break out of his season-opening slump (.150 average), and he has just the opposing pitcher to do so. Alvarez, who has over 30 home runs in each of the last four seasons, has owned Ryan in career matchups. The slugger has three homers and a 1.512 OPS in 12 career at-bats versus the Twins pitcher, and Ryan allowed 8 ER over 10.2 innings against Houston a year ago.

The SportsLine model has also taken into account that Brown has struggled versus this Twins lineup. Current Minnesota batters are hitting .296 off the pitcher, and arguably Brown's worst start of the 2024 season came against Minnesota. Also in a road contest last July, the Twins battered Brown for 12 hits -- the most he allowed all year -- and 7 ER.

The model has simulated Astros vs. Twins 10,000 times and the results are in. We can tell you the model is leaning Over on the run total, and it also says one side of the money line is the better value!

Who wins Astros vs. Twins, and which side of the money line is the better value? ... Join SportsLine right now to find out which side of the money line you should be all over, all from the model on a 34-18 roll on top-rated MLB picks!