TEXAS RANGERS AT OAKLAND ATHLETICS | ODDS, PICKS AND PREDICTION | OSB
Texas Rangers Meet the Oakland Athletics on Thursday
American League West baseball is in full swing tonight as the Texas Rangers head back to Oakland to finish their three-game series off against the Athletics. While the Rangers have been striking gold as of late, the Athletics have struggled mightily. Will the Rangers be able to pull off another upset on the road, or will the Athletics come out of this game victorious?
Dangerous Dane Dunning
Tonight, the Rangers’ youngster Dane Dulling will hit the mound, and while his velocity is quite impressive, his control more than needs work. On the year, Dulling has a 4.53 ERA, 3.2 BB/9, and even 6-12 record, and against a lineup as talented as Oakland’s, this is a huge concern.
However, there are two caveats to The Athletics having an advantage at the plate here. First off, they’re quite terrible when batting at home with a lowly .222 average. Second, when facing off against righties, the team’s average is .05 points lower than when facing lefties. They rank 16th in strikeouts taken on the season and are average at drawing walks. This game could be interesting if Dunning could limit his walks.
Magnificent Manaea
Athletics’ starter Sean Manaea has shown a ton of promise in past seasons, but he is quietly pitching his best campaign yet. He boasts a 2.91 ERA, 9.33 K/9, and has a lowly WHIP of 1.20. This could turn into a pitcher’s duel as the Rangers rank 22nd in on-base percentage, 19th in batting average, 21st in runs scored, and have the 12th most strikeouts. Manaea should be able to control the pace of the game while the Athletics lineup gets to work against Denning.
The Athletics bullpen is a position of concern, though, as it has been a reason for some of their recent losses. Manaea needs to stretch his start to past six innings to put the Athletics in a great spot, so it will be up to the lineup to see things through.
Forget Recent Play
If we’re looking at the teams’ records in recent play, one would think that the Rangers are undervalued in this spot, but the team is worse than the Athletics in every aspect. They’re worse at hitting, driving in runs, launching home runs, conserving runs, keeping runners off base. If anything, this line is a huge value for the Athletics. BetOnline has the odds at (-167) for the home Oakland Athletics and (+154) for the Texas Rangers. I like the Oakland Athletics up to (-200), and getting them even somewhere near (-150) is a huge plus.
Playing the total in this game is tough because Dunning is a curveball. He will either come out strong or come out in a bad fashion, and that is why while the Athletics spread is tempting, the moneyline alone is worth its value. Betting on the Athletics to win by two runs is a scary task due to the team’s recent offensive woes, but they should still be able to do enough to win this ball game.
OSB Official Pick: Oakland Athletics Moneyline (-167) (at BetOnline)
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Current odds brought to you by BetOnline.
