Detroit Tigers (22-16) vs Texas Rangers (26-14)
The Detroit Tigers find themselves in first place in the American League Central heading into this one, but just barely after losing the final game of their series against the Houston Astros. Now they travel to Texas to take on the division leading Rangers.
Thursday May 16
Rangers Ballpark at Arlington – Arlington, TX
8:05PM
Probable Starters:
DET: Justin Verlander (R)
TEX: Yu Darvish (R)
Moneyline: Texas -115, Detroit +105 at Sportsbook.ag
O/U: 7.5
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Detroit
Detroit probably should have a better record than it does though with 3B Miguel Cabrera looking at another Triple Crown kind of year and 1B Prince Fielder among league leaders in homers and RBIs too. Their lineup is stacked
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This is a big series and the Tigers get to lead with their ace. Don’t be fooled by the less than stellar 4-3 record as Justin Verlander is sporting an ERA under 2 and hasn’t given up more than 3 earned runs in any start this season.
The only thing to be worried about with JV this season are the walks allowed. Last year he only walked 60 batters the whole season but he is on pace for more than 80 so far in 2013.
All other indicators are looking good though so feel free to back him at your comfort.
Texas
The Rangers enter this series with the most wins in the Majors but it seems like nobody is really talking too much about them. They already have a nice 7 game cushion in the division after taking 2 of 3 against second place Oakland A’s. [dfads params=’groups=10&limit=1&return_javascript=0′]
They seem to be not missing slugging OF Josh Hamilton (who has been awful with the Angels) at all as they are tied for the MLB lead in home runs this season. More impressive is that they are 6th in the Majors in ERA – and it is not like their staff is full of big names.
Texas is countering Verlander with their own ace in Yu Darvish. The Japanese import is building of last year’s impressive debut by currently leading the Majors in strikeouts.
Amazingly he has given up only 30 hits but will be tested by that impressive Detroit lineup tonight.
Prince Fielder and OK Torrii Hunter are both hitting .333 against Yu for their careers and even though he hasn’t fared as well you know that Miguel Cabrera is going to get his hacks – he always does . Looks like a great spot to bet the dog.
When you get a battle between two legit aces like tonight I always tend to side with whoever is delivering more value. Verlander has been very good against Texas with a 7-2 record and I feel totally comfortable backing him in what is essentially a tossup situation. I will take their bats too but you really can’t make a bad call on this one. Someone is going to win and someone is going to lose.
O/U Pick: Over
Score Prediction: Detroit 5 – Texas 3
