The Texas Rangers have led the American League West for much of the season and look to regain control of the division as they face the New York Mets on the road on Tuesday.
Texas Rangers (-125, 8.5) vs. New York Mets
The Rangers will return to Andrew Heaney to make the start on the mound, who enters having had his fair share of struggles with locating this season, giving up 1.6 home runs and 3.6 strikeouts per nine innings while posting a 4.34 ERA and an even higher 4.93 fielding independent.
Heaney has also failed to lend length, going fewer than five innings in three straight starts with 5 1/3 innings or fewer in nine of his last 10 starts — seriously straining a bullpen that entered the series ranked 25th in the league already in ERA.
Countering for the Mets is José Quintana, who’s been living on limiting overall hard contact, posting a 3.73 ERA and 3.37 fielding independent despite getting just 6.6 strikeouts and allowing 3.7 walks per nine innings.
In seven starts this season, Quintana has allowed just one home run across 41 innings and three runs or fewer in six of those seven starts, but now has to face a Rangers lineup that leads the American League with 5.6 runs per game this season.
The Rangers also lead the American League in batting average, entering the series hitting .266 and fielding a lineup where all nine starters have a batting average of at least .250. They sent out a lineup on Monday in which all but two players entered the game with at least a .265 batting average.
While the Mets’ .228 home batting average entering the series was the worst mark in the National League, the team is still averaging nearly 4.4 runs per game this season thanks to having the third-best home runs per at-bat ratio at home behind only the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers.
With the Rangers ranked seventh in the league in home runs per at-bat and both bullpens having entered the series 22nd or worse in bullpen ERA, there will be no shortage of hits and runs in New York on Tuesday.
The Play: Rangers vs. Mets Over 8.5
