Monday night baseball and we will see the Detroit Tigers travel to the Lone Star State to take on the Texas Rangers. The game is scheduled for an 8:05 pm start time and it will be televised live on Fox Sports (Detroit) and Fox Sports Houston (Texas). Currently the odds have the Rangers favored at -148, while the Tigers are dogs of +139. The total for the game is at 11 runs.
Free Analysis: Detroit has been an erratic team all season but remains just three games back in a tight American League Central after pulling out a 3-2 win at Pittsburgh on Sunday afternoon. Detroit avoided the sweep at the hands of the Pittsburgh on Sunday, as Justin Verlander went the distance for the fourth time this season in the win. Quintin Berry hit a two-run homer and scored the winning run on a Delmon Young single in the eighth, and Austin Jackson had a pair of hits and scored once for the Tigers, who have won five of their last eight games. Rick Porcello toes the rubber to begin the series looking to get some consistency on the hill. has struggled in the past against the Texas Rangers, with Josh Hamilton doing some of that damage this year. The right-hander is 1-2 with a 12.27 ERA in three outings against Texas (45-28), including his shortest effort over his last three seasons April 21. Porcello (4-5, 4.95 ERA) was tagged for nine runs over one-plus inning in a 10-4 defeat in the opener of a doubleheader.Hamilton hit a three-run homer off Porcello in that contest after previously being 0 for 3 against him. Numerous other Rangers, though, have excellent regular-season numbers against Porcello. Ian Kinsler is 4 for 5, David Murphy 5 for 7 with a homer, Michael Young 4 for 7 and Nelson Cruz and Adrian Beltre have each gone 3 for 8. Texas has been arguably baseball’s hottest team over the past two weeks, winning eight of its last nine and 11 of 13. The Rangers wrapped up their sixth consecutive interleague series win, beating Colorado on Sunday to finish with a 14-4 record against the National League. The Rangers, who lead the Los Angeles Angels by five games in the AL West, continue to pace the major leagues in most offensive categories, but pitching has fueled the recent surge. Texas has tossed three shutouts this month, allowing just 18 runs in its 12 victories since June 8. Texas rookie Justin Grimm (1-0, 4.50) gets the ball again after yielding three runs over six innings June 16 in his major league debut, an 8-3 victory over Houston. A fifth-round pick by the Rangers in 2010, the right-hander was promoted from Double-A Frisco before that start. Detroit is 13-6 in Porcello’s last 19 road starts, but the Rangers have won 37 of their last 53 home games and 18 of their last 24 Monday contests. The Rangers won three of four games at Detroit in April, outscoring the Tigers 25-12 in the ALCS rematch.
Free Pick: I'm gonna go with Texas -1.5 (+130) in this one. Rick Porcello's worst career regular-season ERA against an AL opponent is the work of the high-scoring Rangers heading into the opener of tonight's 3 game set. The right-hander is 1-2 with a 12.27 ERA in three career outings against Texas, plus he is 0-3 with a 12.08 ERA in three starts against the AL West this year. Opponents are hitting .319 overall against him, which is the worst mark in baseball among starters that have gone at least 70 innings and he has a 5.29 ERA, with a 1.79 WHIP on the road this year. Texas hitters are a healthy 26-for-57 (.456) against Porcello, led by OF David Murphy (5-for-7, HR, 2 RBIs), 2B Ian Kinsler (4-for-5) and DH Michael Young (4-for-7, 3 RBIs). Justin Grimm had a solid MLB Debut vs the Astros, as he allowed just 3 ER's in 6 innings with 7 K's and NO walks. Detroit has never seen him so that gives him an advantage, plus the Tigers offense is just not firing on all cylinders right now. Detroit has scored just 8 runs in their last 5 games, while Texas has put up 5.4 rpg in their last 10 and 5.6 rpg at home on the year. Detroit just doesn't have enough offense to keep this one close.
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Monday at Pregame.com (Sports Betting Picks- 06/25/2012)
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