Date/Time: Tuesday June 16 / 8:05PM EST
Sport/Type: MLB / Side
Game: Houston Astros @ Texas Rangers
Graded Selection: 2* Texas Rangers -140
Analysis:
Rangers Park in Arlington will be the site of this interleague battle between in-state rivals the Texas Rangers and the visiting Houston Astros. Both teams are riding small streaks the Astros have won their last two games after dropping the first in a three-game set against Arizona while the Rangers are riding a two-game losing streak after taking game one in a three-game series versus the LA Dodgers. Houston is 29-32 W/L (-2.5) on the season and 13-14 (+0.8) on the road. The Astros average 4.2 runs per game on the road while allowing their opponents to plate 5.1 runs per game. Houston’s bullpen has struggled when playing on the highway this season they have an ERA of 5.40 and a WHIP of 1.751. Houston is hoping tonight’s starter Wandy Rodriguez can give them more than his 5.6 IP average on the road this season. He is 2-3 W/L with an ERA of 3.74 on the road and 0-2 W/L with an ERA of 7.02 (WHIP 1.860) in his last three trips to the bump overall. Wandy has managed to go 3-0 W/L versus Texas in his career with the last meeting coming at home against tonight’s starter Kevin Millwood for the Rangers back in June of 08 as the Astros got a 7 to 2 win. Millwood will certainly remember that start and be looking for a little revenge here tonight. Millwood is 4-1 W/L at home this season with an ERA of 2.19 and averages 7.0 innings per start. His bullpen has been better than Houston’s with an ERA of 4.88 at home and a WHIP of 1.471. Over his last three outings he has been superb posting a record of 2-0 W/L with an ERA of only 0.87 and a WHIP of 1.113. In his last start he won at home versus Toronto 1 to 0 pitching 7.7 innings giving up five hits in the win. His previous start before that was on the road at Boston where he pitched for 7 innings giving up 1 unearned run on seven hits in a 5 to 1 win. Texas has dominated this series over the last three seasons going 10-5 W/L including 3-0 W/L this season. In all games at Texas the last three years the Rangers are 4-2 W/L in the six meetings for +2.1 Units. The Rangers are also active in a MLB System that tells us to Play On MLB favorites of -110 or higher with a bullpen that converts on 75 percent or more of their save opportunities against an opponent with a starting pitcher whose ERA is 3.00 or better on the season. This system has a record of 79-37 W/L over the last five seasons for 68.1 percent winners and a profit of +29.90 units. Houston is 0-10 W/L (-10.3) when Rodriguez takes the bump on the road versus teams whose batters draw three walks or less per game. Finally we see that the Rangers bounce back from losing two of their last three games by going 15-6 W/L (+11.4) this season. With the combination of fundamental and technical support for the Rangers we will back them here in game one of this series as they put an end to both teams’ recent streaks and put us in the winner’s circle on Tuesday night.

Graded Selection: 2* Texas Rangers 5 Houston Astros 2