Twins vs Rangers MLB Betting Preview
The Rangers have the biggest lead of any division in the American League with a 5-game lead over the Angels in the AL West.
Venue/ Stadium: Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Arlington, Texas
Time/Date: 8:05 PM EST Thursday, August 23, 2012
MLB Odds From: Bovada
Moneyline: Twins +170 / Rangers -200
Over/Under: 9.5 runs
PITCHING MATCHUP: Twins LH Scott Diamond (10-5, 2.95 ERA) vs. Rangers RH Roy Oswalt (4-2, 6.04)
Minnesota Twins vs. Texas Rangers Preview
The Rangers have the biggest lead of any division in the American League with a 5-game lead over the Angels in the AL West. On the other side of the coin the Twins have the worst record in the AL and they have lost 8 of their last 10 games. MLB lines have the home Rangers as the huge favorites with a run total of 9.5.
In their last games the Rangers beat up on the Baltimore Orioles 12-3 while the Twins lost to the Oakland A’s 5-1.
This season the Twins have an O/U record of 60-57 and they have a run-line W/L record of 66-57 and the Rangers have an O/U record of 53-67 with a run-line W/L record of 59-64.
The Rangers have won 6 o their last 7 games facing the Twins.
Scott Diamond (10-5, 2.95 ERA) goes for the Twins tonight and in his last outing he did not get much run support only giving up 2 earned runs in 6 innings in a no decision facing the Mariners. Roy Oswalt (4-2, 6.04 ERA) gets the nod for the Rangers and he also got a no decision in his last outing giving up 1 earned run in 4 innings against the Blue Jays. [dfads params=’groups=10&limit=1&return_javascript=0′]
Oswalt has been far from consistent in his starts for the Rangers this season posting a solid ERA of 1.54 in 4 starts and 12.38 in 3 starts.
Minnesota has lost 11 of their last 13 games and in their last 6 losses their offense has really struggled batting .180.
Diamond leads the Twins in wins and ERA and he may really want to pitch around Adrian Beltre, as the All Star went deep 3 times in yesterday’s game against the Orioles and has hit safely in every game against the Twins this season hitting over .400 facing them.
Diamond has his work cut out for him in this away game facing a Rangers’ offense that has scored the most runs in the Majors and has the highest team batting average.
In some betting trends for this AL match up the Twins 1-6 in their last 7 road games, 5-1 in Diamond’s last 6 starts during game 1 of a series, and they have an Under record of 4-1 in their last 5 games.
The Rangers are 4-1 in their last 5 games, 5-2 in Oswalt’s last 7 starts, and they have an Under record of 16-6 in their last 22 home games.
Jason’s Pick: Not much value for the Rangers at -200, but with their offense on fire I have to go with them in this game.
