The Texas Rangers and Oakland Athletics continue their three game set tonight as Derek Holland and Bartolo Colon take the mound for their respective teams. This evening’s game two meeting is scheduled to get underway at 10:05pm ET at the O.co Coliseum in Oakland. The latest MLB Odds have the visiting Rangers listed as a -112 moneyline favorite ($112 wins $100) and the Over/Under set at 7.5 runs (Under favored at -120 odds). The Athletics are drawing +102 odds to win tonight’s game and thus the series.

 

The Athletics fought their way back to the break even point last night, bringing their record to 20-20 after beating Texas 5-1. Despite the victory, which featured an outstanding starting effort from A.J. Griffin (seven innings, six hits, one earned run, eight strikeouts), Oakland is still five games back of the division leading Rangers.

 

The A’s will look to chip away a little more at Texas lead this evening with 39 year old Bartolo Colon toeing the rubber. Colon, who is 18-7 with a 3.66 ERA in 29 career starts against the Rangers, has been a mixed bag this season. The 15 year veteran owns four quality starts; however, all of those came in his first four outings of the season. Colon has allowed 23 hits and 14 earned runs in his last three starts (15.1 innings), bringing his ERA to a pedestrian 4.57.

 

The Rangers, who fell to 24-14 with last night’s loss, will attempt to even the series with Derek Holland on the hill. The southpaw brings a 3-2 record and 2.54 ERA in seven starts; he has yielded 40 hits and struck out 43 in 49.2 innings pitched.

 

Holland has been hard on the Athletics in his 12 career appearances against them, posting a 4-2 record and 2.64 ERA (eight starts).

 

Notable Trend(s): The Over is 8-2 in Oakland’s last 10 games as a home dog against a left handed pitcher and total between 7.5 and 8 runs.

 

 

Texas Rangers -1.5 (+140), Over 7.5 (+100), -112 (Moneyline)

Oakland Athletics +1.5 (-160), Under 7.5 (-120), +102 (Moneyline)

 

Baseball Betting Tips from Chuck Edel & Johnny Detroit
Chuck Edel is a well respected gambler / handicapper who appears on numerous radio shows and is frequently featured in the Las Vegas Review Journal. He sits down with Johnny Detroit and goes over some of his personal MLB betting tips.