After taking the first two games of this AL West rivalry series in Arlington, the Rangers shoot for the sweep Thursday night.
Rookie righty Kumar Rocker and his 7+ ERA get the call for Texas here against second-year righty Jack Kochanowicz and his near-6 ERA for Los Angeles.
How are we playing this game with our free baseball betting pick?
MLB Betting Odds
Thursday’s baseball betting market opened Texas at around -135 over the Angels, with an O/U of 9.5. Early betting action then bumped that line 20 cents to -155.
Angels-Rangers Betting Preview
Texas took the opener of this series Tuesday night 4-0, then took Wednesday’s game 3-1. The Rangers won Tuesday as -130 favorites with Tyler Mahle, then as +115 dogs Wednesday with Patrick Corbin, who picked up his first American League W, after 102 in the National League.
Also, both games in this series played under totals of 9 runs, as the teams have combined to score just eight.
With Wednesday’s win, Texas is still only 3-5 over its last eight games.
With Wednesday’s loss, the Angels are 2-5 over their last seven games.
But at 11-7 and 9-8 overall, respectively, the Rangers and Angels sit in first and second place in the AL West.
Last year, Texas took the season series from Los Angeles nine games to four. Kochanowicz took the L in two of those games for the Angels, even though he didn’t pitch too badly.
Thursday’s Pitching Matchup
Rocker is 0/3 on quality starts this season. First, he allowed six runs in three innings of a 14-3 Texas loss at Cincinnati. Then he held Tampa Bay to one run through five innings of a 4-3 Rangers victory. But then last Saturday, he gave up four runs – three earned – in less than four frames of a 9-2 Rangers loss to Seattle.
So Texas is 1-2 with Rocker this season, the overs 2-1.
This will be Rocker’s first career action against the Angels.
Meanwhile, Kochanowicz is 1/3 on quality starts this year. First, he held the White Sox to two runs through six innings of a 3-2 Los Angeles victory. Then he held Cleveland to three runs – two earned – through five innings of a 10-4 Angels win. But last Friday, Houston got him for six runs in less than five frames of a 14-3 Angels loss.
So Los Angeles is 2-1 with Kochanowicz this season, the overs 2-1.
In two starts against the Rangers last year, Kochanowicz allowed six runs and 14 hits through 13 innings. The Angels lost both those games, although that wasn’t all his fault.
Splits With the Sticks
Los Angles is batting .237 against right-handed pitching this season, with a .304 team OBP and a .450 team slugging percentage. The Angels have also been held to 11 runs total over their last five games.
Texas is slashing .216/.271/.351 against RH pitching. The Rangers have also only scored 13 runs over their last five games.
The Bullpens
Last year we ranked the Texas bullpen among the bottom five in Baseball. This season the Rangers pen owns a 3.93 ERA, along with a 1.19 WHIP and a 3.45 K/BB ratio.
The Angels pen owns a 6.11 ERA, a 1.72 WHIP, and a 1.82 K/BB ratio.
MLB Betting Trends
Los Angeles played just 49-79 against right-handed starters last season, but it’s 8-7 vs. righties this season.
Texas played 60-62 against RH starters last year, but it’s 9-5 vs. righties this year.
Totals Report
The Unders are 8-1 at Globe Life Field this season.
The Overs played 6-5-2 in Angels-Rangers games last season.
Prop Board
Angels C Logan O’Hoppe, who’s slugging .653 this season, is catching +145 to bat over 1.5 total bases.
