The Texas Rangers enter Wednesday’s road game against the Boston Red Sox with the lead in the American League West, but to keep expanding the lead will have to get by one of the hottest pitchers on the plant.
Texas Rangers vs. Boston Red Sox (-115, 9.5)
Red Sox starter Brayan Bello has allowed three runs ole fewer in 12 straight starts and in the span of his last 11 starts, Bello has a 2.33 ERA with 0.7 home runs and 2.6 walks per nine innings.
For Bello his toughest test comes on Wednesday with the Rangers leading the league in runs per game and batting average, but the Rangers entered the series with their batting average going from .287 at home down to .260 on the road.
Overall this season, the Red Sox have been one of the best hitting teams at home this season, entering the series with a .286 home batting average and 5.5 runs per game, both of which are in the top four among MLB teams, but had scored four runs or fewer in 19 of their last 28 games.
Rangers starter Jon Gray will look to keep the Red Sox bats in a funk as he enters having allowed zero or one run in seven of his last nine starts with a 3.21 ERA and .219 opponents batting average overall this season.
Gray has done his best work on the road this season with his ERA dropping all the way to 1.99 in his starts away from Arlington and has went at least six innings in four of his last five road starts to mitigate the use of a bullpen that entered the series ranked 24th in ERA this season.
With the acquisition of Aroldis Chapman to fortify the bullpen coupled with the Rangers having scored four runs or fewer in three of their last four roar games, two of the league’s highest scoring offenses will be held down on Wednesday.
The Play: Rangers vs. Red Sox Under 9.5
