Thursday night baseball and I will have a Free Pick in the game between the Texas Rangers and the Los Angeles Dodgers, which will be played at Chavez Ravine. First pitch is scheduled for a 10:10 PM (Eastern) start time and the game will be televised locally.
Betting Odds
Texas +193
Los Angeles -210
Over/ Under: 7 U -130
This is game 4 of a 4 game series between these Interleague League foes.The Dodgers have struggled in this series so far as they have lost all 3 games played, including last night's home game with Kershaw on the mound. Still the Dodgers lead the NL West by 2.5 games over the Giants. The Rangers continue to surprise as they have won 5 of their last 6 games overall and have climbed to just 2.5 games behind Houston in the AL West. The Rangers rank 2nd in scoring (4.56 rpg), while on the mound they are 19th in ERA (4.00). The Dodgers rank 11th in scoring (4.30 rpg), while on the mound they are 3rd in ERA (3.30).
Trend for this game include: The Rangers are 10-1 in their last 11 interleague games vs. a team with a winning record and 14-5 in their last 19 games following a win. The Dodgers are 81-27 in their last 108 games as a home favorite of -201 or greater and 29-8 in Greinkes last 37 starts following a team loss in their previous game.
Getting the ball for Texas tonight will be Anthony Ranaudo, who is making just his 2nd start of the year. His first start was a rough one as he lost 10-2 to the Angels, allowing 6 ERs in just 1.2 innings of work.
Taking the hill for the Dodgers tonight will be Zach Greinke, who is 5-2 with a 1.95 ERA on the year, while at home he is 2-1 with a 2.08 ERA. Zach is 3-5 with a 2.84 ERA in 14 games (12 Starts) vs the Rangers, but he hasn't faced them since 2012. Zach is also 15-10 with a 4.06 ERA in 38 games (32 starts) in interleague play.
Pick: I will go with the Dodgers on the RL here. Greinke is their stopper and always has a good game when they need it and the Dodgers need it. The Rangers are missing a couple of offensive pieces and Greinke has been very good at home. The Rangers will be throwing out a starter that was crushed in his lone start this year. I look for the LA offense to tee off on him tonight, while the Rangers will struggle to score more than 1 or 2 runs.
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