Nothing like a matinee rubber match. After splitting the first two games of their series, the Texas Rangers and New York Yankees go head-to-head on Thursday to decide who gets on a plane as the winner.
First pitch is set for 12:35 p.m. ET. The Yankees are -141 moneyline favorites on DraftKings Sportsbook, while a Rangers upset is priced at +117. The game total is set at O/U eight runs.
Let’s get into a pick and prediction for this Rangers-Yankees game.
Rangers vs. Yankees Preview
First things first, let’s get to know these starting pitchers.
MacKenzie Gore steps to the mound for Texas. The big offseason acquisition for Texas, Gore got tasked with bringing stability to a rotation filled with question marks. So far, he’s not exactly holding up his end of the bargain, posting a 4.67 ERA through seven starts. Gore is still missing bats at a high rate, but continues to give up too many walks and too much hard contact. His tendency to fade down the stretch of the season is known, but coming out of the gate struggling is a new thing entirely. That’s a major concern for the Rangers, who have been off to a mediocre start.
The Yankees were originally scheduled to start Ryan Weathers on Thursday. Unfortunately, life — or a viral infection that caused him to lose nine pounds — got in the way.
Instead, they’ll turn to Paul Blackburn, the de facto swingman of the pitching staff. Blackburn has worked exclusively as a reliever this season, throwing 14 innings across nine appearances. He’s not a velocity guy, nor a strikeout guy, but works in seven different pitches and thrives on inducing soft contact. His 3.21 ERA is backed up by a 3.58 expected ERA, and if you need a guy for a spot start, there are certainly worse options. Blackburn can give them two or three innings before handing things off to the bullpen.
Lucky for us, we get to watch two of the best lineups in baseball go to work in this game. New York and Texas are two of the eight teams with an OPS+ over 100 collectively. The Yankees have bashed the most home runs in baseball, led by none other than Aaron Judge, the best slugger in baseball. Texas’ results on paper don’t look incredible, but its early-season schedule has tamped down some of those numbers, and the club is on track to break out.
Now that we know these teams a bit better, who is going to take this one home?
Rangers vs. Yankees Pick, Best Bet
Weathers’ sudden illness really throws a wrench in this one. New York went from a solid advantage on the mound to a weakness, especially given the struggles of their bullpen, which will be leaned on heavily after Blackburn. They’re still the better team by far, but run prevention could be a serious problem on Thursday. I’m seeing a lot of runs in the forecast.
