MLB: Rangers favored, but barely holding on

The Texas Rangers can feel it, with less than 20 games to play; their playoff hopes are evaporating fast. Texas is six games behind Los Angeles in the AL West and five games behind Boston for the wild card after losing their third of last four home encoun

2009-09-16

The Texas Rangers can feel it, with less than 20 games to play; their playoff hopes are evaporating fast. Texas is six games behind Los Angeles in the AL West and five games behind Boston for the wild card after losing their third of last four home encounters. Perhaps Tuesday night’s matchup with Oakland can kick-start an end-of-year rally. At last check, 72% of bettors like the Rangers as -175 favorites in the game. Get the latest breakdown on the BETTING TRENDS page.

Last night’s 9-0 loss to Oakland was especially painful, as ace Scott Feldman was rocked and they only mustered five hits against journeyman deluxe Brett Tomko, who registered his second shutout in a less than distinguished career.

The offense has gone stone cold, having put up 19 consecutive zeros on the scoreboard and Texas (80-63, +18.3 units) will see the offerings of Edgar Gonzalez (0-2, 4.92 ERA). The right-hander has made 23 appearances in 2009, but just three as a starter. Even with last night’s defeat, the Rangers are 11-5 off a loss and 7-3 against teams with a losing record like Oakland (65-78, -0.9 units).

The A’s are a treacherous opponent at the moment, having won six of last eight, scoring 6.6 runs per game during this hot spell, which even includes being shutout. As a team they are batting .325 and are 5-1 versus excellent home teams like Texas (45-28), who have a winning percent of .600 or higher.

Oakland will look at Brandon McCarthy (7-2, 4.81), who is seeking a fifth straight win for the Rangers. He lacks the credentials to be effective against the A’s with a 1-3 record and 10.29 ERA in four career starts; however the Rangers have won his last six outings against teams with losing records.

Sportsbook.com has the Rangers as -175 money line favorites with total of Ov9.5. Texas has taken 15 of last 20 as a home favorite and are 38-16-4 UNDER when the chalk. Despite the hot-hitting, over the course of the season the Athletics are 11-25 after scoring five runs or more in their previous game and are 10-4-1 UNDER in last 15 road games. The action begins in this AL West matchup at 8:05 Eastern with Texas 13-6 at Arlington versus the A’s.

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