All 30 MLB teams are in action for a full night of baseball. In the later portion of the evening, the Los Angeles Angels and Texas Rangers will open up a series with the first pitch scheduled for 9:38 p.m. ET. This pair of AL West teams sits in third and fourth place in the division, but holds different outlooks entering tonight’s matchup.
Looking at the odds, the Rangers enter as -206 favorites on the moneyline and hold -125 odds on the -1.5 run line on DraftKings Sportsbook. The Angels hold +167 odds of getting the outright victory with the game total set at 8.5.
Rangers vs. Angels prediction, preview
The Rangers enter with a 56-50 record on the season and are riding a six-game winning streak into tonight. They are also 9-1 in their last 10 games. Jacob deGrom will be getting the start tonight and enters with a 10-2 record on the year. The two-time Cy Young Award winner is posting a 2.28 ERA, a 0.896 WHIP, and is leading the American League by allowing just 6.2 home runs per nine innings. He has struck out 122 batters across his first 118.1 innings pitched.
Looking at the Rangers’ offense, they rank 27th in the league in batting average, 26th in hits, 16th in home runs, 21st in RBIs, and 26th in total bases. Josh Smith leads the team in batting average at .274 and has added nine home runs and 28 RBIs. Corey Seager and Wyatt Langford are tied for the team’s leading home run total with 15 each, while Adolis Garcia has added 14 of his own. Garcia leads the team with 59 RBIs, while Marcus Semien is right behind him with 13 home runs and 52 RBIs tallied. Texas also has the third-best bullpen ERA at a collective 3.25 and has given up the second-fewest total earned runs.
The Angels sit five games back in the standings with a 51-55 record. They are coming off a 5-1 victory over the Mariners yesterday, but have lost five in their last seven games, including being swept by the New York Mets. Jack Kochanowicz will be on the mound tonight and enters with some significant struggles on the season. The 6-foot-7 right-hander holds a 6.03 ERA and 1.63 WHIP while allowing 10.3 hits per nine innings. His last pitching performance was against this Rangers team back on July 10th, and Kochanowicz was shelled for eight earned runs in just 2.2 innings pitched. He has not escaped a start with fewer than two earned runs allowed since May 16th.
Los Angeles ranks 24th in the MLB in batting average, 24th in hits tallied, fourth in home runs, 16th in RBIs, and 12th in total bases. Nolan Schanuel leads the team with a .282 batting average and has tallied eight home runs and 42 RBIs this year. Taylor Wards leads the team with 24 home runs and 77 RBIs, with his outfield teammate Joe Adell right behind him with 21 home runs and 60 RBIs. Mike Trout continues to produce in his age-33 season with 19 home runs and 47 RBIs. The three-time MVP surpassed 1,000 career RBIs yesterday with a two-run home run. The Angels’ bullpen is posting the fourth-worst ERA as a unit at 5.00 on the season.
Rangers vs. Angels pick, best bet
The Rangers currently hold a three-game lead for the last Wild Card spot, and this is a great chance to continue building up some distance in the standings. This is a matchup of two teams trending in opposite directions as of late, and the disparity in the pitching matchup is too much to overlook. Kochanowicz’s eight-run appearance during his previous start against this Rangers team occurred just over two weeks ago, and there have been more reasons for encouragement surrounding Texas since. In contrast, Jacob deGrom gives you a chance to win just about every time he takes the hill and has been in especially strong form of late.
Count on the Rangers continuing their hot streak and picking up their 10th win in their past 11 games tonight. The gap between these two teams may be larger than their records indicate. Texas tallied 6+ runs in each of the three matchups with the Braves, and this is an even friendlier pitching matchup. Expect the Rangers to put up runs at a rate that the Angels struggle to match, and for deGrom to hold up his end of the bargain. I am backing the Rangers on the -1.5 run line, and it would not be shocking if this game ends up a full-scale blowout.
Best Bet: Rangers -1.5 Run Line (-125)
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