Tuesday night baseball and we will see the Philadelphia Phillies travel to the Lone Star State to take on the Texas Rangers in an inter-conference game. First pitch is scheduled for a 8:05 PM (Eastern) start time and the game will be televised on ESPN 2.
Current Odds
Philadelphia +152
Texas -167
Over/ Under: 9.5 U -120
Analysis: The Phillies scored just 610 runs last year and a big reason was the loss of Utley and a power outage from Howard. They did begin this year by putting up 14 runs, but then lat night could manage just 2 runs on the night Both are healthy heading into the year and the key for the Phils is that both players stay healthy. The Phils will also need Brown to at least duplicate last years 27 homer campaign. The Phils have also added Marlon Bryd and they still have Ruiz and Rollin as well. This offense will be improved over last year, but if the injury bug creeps in then they could struggle again as they have little depth behind their starters. Kyle Kendrick gets the ball for the Phils and is off a tough year in which he went 10-13 with a 4.70 ERA. He did pitch well in the spring with a 2.61 ERA.
Last year the Texas Rangers ranked 8th in runs scored (730), 8th in homeruns (176) and 7th in hitting, so even with the loss of Hamilton this was still a very good offense. This year they should be even better as they went out and got one of the best leadoff men in the game in Shin-Soo Choo and one of the better power hitters around in Prince Fielder. Elvis Andrus returns after hitting .271 and stealing 42 bases last year. Also back is Adrian Beltre, who is off big year in which he hit .315, with 30 homers and 92 RBIs. Alex Rios and Mitch moorland will also provide some pop ad RBI’s in the middle of the lineup, but the 7-9 hitters will probably struggle for much of the year. Still overall I can see this offense being just a bit better than last year, especially with the additions of Choo and Fielder. Robbie Ross gets the ball for the Rangers, after going 4-2 with a 3.03 ERA a year ago.
Pick: Let's go with the Under here. Kendrick had an awful year last year, but pitched really will in the spring and I look for him to come out with a solid outing here. Robbie Ross pitched very well for the Rangers and should have a good outing here as well vs a Philly offense that showed last night that they will be inconsistent all year. 8 runs at most here.
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Handicapping Tips: Baseball Correlations
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