AL and NL powerhouses collide in a potential World Series preview as the Texas Rangers (58-39) welcome the Los Angeles Dodgers (55-40) to town for weekend interleague series. First pitch of Friday’s opener is set for 8:05 p.m. ET at Globe Life Park in Arlington, Texas. Tony Gonsolin (5-3, 3.72 ERA) will get the start for L.A., while the Rangers counter with lefty Andrew Heaney (6-6, 4.43).
The Dodgers have gotten off to a nice start to the second half, taking two of three from both the New York Mets and Baltimore Orioles to kick off their road trip. L.A. has strengthened its hold on the NL West, now two games up on both the Arizona Diamondbacks and San Francisco Giants.
Texas is also hot, getting their second half underway with a pair of home sweeps against the Cleveland Guardians and the Tampa Bay Rays. The Rangers boast the third-best record in the AL at 58-39 and a four-game lead over the Houston Astros in the AL West.
The Rangers enter as -125 favorites on the moneyline at DraftKings Sportsbook, with the Dodgers at +105. The run total is set at 9.5.
Dodgers-Rangers picks: Friday, July 21st
Injury report
Dodgers
Out: SP Clayton Kershaw (shoulder), OF Jake Marisnick (hamstring), SP Noah Syndergaard (finger), RP Shelby Miller (neck), RP Daniel Hudson (knee), SP Ryan Pepiot (oblique)
Rangers
Day to day: SP Jon Gray (shin), OF Adolis Garcia (elbow)
Out: RP Josh Sborz (biceps)
Starting pitchers
Tony Gonsolin vs. Andrew Heaney
Gonsolin has had a rough time of late, with a stretch of four straight starts in which he allowed at least four earned runs. He bounced back a bit in his first start after the All-Star break, holding the Mets to one run on two hits and three walks over five innings of work. (He was pulled after just 54 pitches due to oppressive humidity in New York.) The righty doesn’t induce a ton of strikeouts, instead relying on his splitter, slider and curve to keep batters off-balance and get weak contact. It’s not the most overpowering arsenal, though, and Gonsolin can be vulnerable against better offenses — or just bad BABIP luck.
Good luck trying to figure out which Heaney you’re going to get on a given day. Here are the run totals for the lefty’s last four starts: 0, 8, 0, 6. When he has his command working, placing fastballs up in the zone and burying his slider, he can have a ton of success. When the command isn’t there, though, he gets hit hard — and you just never know which pitcher is going to show up.
Over/Under pick
The Dodgers have cleared this total in 12 of their last 17 games, and while Texas is coming off a low-scoring series against the Rays — a team with a great pitching staff and a struggling offense — the Rangers had cleared double-digits in six of seven prior to this week. These are the third and fourth-best offenses in baseball since the start of July, with eminently beatable pitchers on the mound. Back the over.
Pick: Over 9.5
Moneyline pick
Both of these pitchers have the ability to navigate five or six solid innings … and both of them also have the ability to cough up a very crooked number. These are also two very deep, dangerous lineups, and in a toss-up like this, why not take the team with plus odds — and eight wins in their last 10 games? Good luck knowing which version of Gonsolin and Heaney we’ll get, but I’ll back Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman and Co. as underdogs against a pitcher they should tee off against.
Pick: Dodgers
