After dropping the first two games of their crucial AL West clash with the Los Angeles Angels, the Texas Rangers fought back with a win on Wednesday night. The division leaders will now look to salvage a split on Thursday night, with first pitch of the series finale set for 8:05 p.m. ET from Globe Life Field in Arlington. It’s a star-studded matchup on the mound, as the Angels hand the ball to MVP candidate Shohei Ohtani (5-2, 3.32 ERA) while the Rangers counter with the red-hot Nathan Eovaldi (9-2, 2.49).
Texas enters as the -135 moneyline favorite at DraftKings Sportsbook, with L.A. a narrow +115 underdog. The run total is set at 8.
Angels-Rangers picks: Thursday, June 15th
Injury report
Angels:
Out: RP Ben Joyce (hand), SP/RP Jose Suarez (shoulder), C Max Stassi (hip), RP Matt Moore (oblique), Austin Warren (elbow), RP Jose Quijada (elbow), C Logan O’Hoppe (shoulder)
Rangers:
Out: SP Jacob deGrom (elbow), RP Glenn Otto (shoulder), UTIL Brad Miller (oblique), SP Jake Odorizzi (shoulder), RP Brett Martin (shoulder)
Starting pitchers
Ohtani remains arguably the single toughest pitcher to hit in all of the Majors — at least when he’s anywhere near the strike zone. The righty throws six or seven different pitches, and his pitch tunneling — basically, the extent to which all of them look the same coming out of his hand — is among the best in baseball. Ohtani’s ability to generate swings and misses remains elite, but he’s struggled a bit of late, particularly with his command; he’s walked 12 batters over his last four starts, with a 4.50 ERA since the start of May. With his recent struggles, the Angels have talked about giving Ohtani an extra day of rest between his next few outings leading into the All-Star break as they don’t want to wear his arm out.
Eovaldi has been dominant this year, in large part thanks to elite command. He’s picked hitters apart, spotting inside and outside and having a full compliment of secondary pitches to work off his high-90s fastball. The righty has gone at least six innings in nine of his last 10 starts, allowing more than two runs just twice over that span, a big reason why his nine wins are second-most in MLB this season.
Over/Under pick
Both teams have swung the bat well in this series, however they’ll also be sending their best pitchers to the mound. I think that we see at 2-1 or a 3-2 sort of game here as the bats struggle a bit. Every game in the series has gone over this total, but this is by far the best pitching matchup we’ve seen.
Pick: Under 8
Moneyline pick
With Ohtani on the mound, I am going with the Angels. I know he has been up and down a bit as of late, but he still has stuff that is hard to hit. Eovaldi has been great, but he’s due for a bad outing. This could be a huge series win for the Angels and I think they pull it off with their best player on the bump.
Pick: Angels
