In-state bragging rights and divisional ramifications will be on the line Thursday afternoon when the AL West rival Houston Astros and Texas Rangers close their extended four game series out from Arlington.
You can bet on MLB odds at BookMaker.eu every day of the season.
ODDS ANALYSIS
Neither the Angels nor Athletics have much of a shot at getting back into the AL West race evidenced by their current +1400 and +2500 respective odds to win the division. So for all intents and purposes, the division is now a three horse race between the Rangers, Mariners and Astros – one of this season’s biggest disappointments.
With a three-game lead atop the division standings, Texas is currently the -150 odds on favorite to get the job done followed by the Mariners at +180 and the Astros at +1000.
If you truly believe last year’s runner up is going to completely turn their season around, now is the time to jump on their bandwagon in the futures market. They’ve won three in a row and eight of their last 10 to chip away at their early season deficit for baseball bettors.
PROBABLE PITCHERS
The month of April was unkind to Colin McHugh who went 2-3 and pitched to a bloated 6.65 ERA. He turned it around a bit in May by going 3-1 and nearly cutting his ERA in half (3.83). June started off very rocky against the A’s who got to him for five hits (1 HR) and 4 ERs through 5.1 innings. He’ll attempt to bounce back this afternoon on the road where he checks in 2-2 with a poor 5.27 ERA through 27.1 innings of work. He has however been at his best in day games when he’s gone 2-0 with a 3.95 ERA, and he’s somehow a perfect 4-0 lifetime versus the Rangers with a 3.99 ERA and .333 batting average against.
Martin Perez was once a big time up and comer in the league a couple year’s back. A couple arm surgeries late, and he once again looks to be back on track. He’s logged the most innings of any starter in the rotation (72.1), and will be gunning for his fourth straight start of quality against the Astros in his thirteenth start of 2016. The southpaw owns a 4-4 record, but has only conceded 66 hits through 72.1 innings of work. Walks have been a major issue with his issuing 32 through 72.1 innings (4.0 per nine IP), but he’s only walked two or less batters in each of his last four trips to the bump.
LIVE BETTING
When you’re paying somebody $24M a year to hit the baseball, you expect them to do just that. That however has not been the case with Prince Fielder who enters June batting a pathetic .187 while slugging .288. He’s only reached the cheap seats three times and is in jeopardy of losing his every day privileges as the offense’s DH.
Jurickson Profar has already taken at-bats away from him, and though the team expects to get major production out of its high-priced commodity, Jeff Bannister wants to win and knows right now his team’s best chance of doing so is with Prince riding the pine.
QUICK PICK
If the Astros are ever truly going to get back in to the AL West mix, it needs to start beating the teams ahead of them in the standings. Texas has already won all six games played versus Houston this season, and enters Monday night’s series opener seven games up in the standings.
Houston will also have its work cut out for itself in the finale of this matchup with Perez having gone 4-2 with a 1.71 ERA over six career starts versus the Astros. He has however been a bit easier to score upon in the day evidenced by his 3.91 ERA up from the 2.87 ERA he’s put forth under the lights.
Baseball’s a funny game. Just when you’re comfortable with your situation, the floor drops out. Texas just swept Seattle to take hold of the division lead. Look for Houston to flip the script by taking this game and series to ratchet the pressure back up on the division leaders.
MLB Odds: Astros 6, Rangers 4
BookMaker will be the first online sportsbook to send out the baseball odds for this marquee matchup. Since this game can be seen by anyone with a TV, BookMaker will have a multitude of wagering options available for it. Outside of the normal lines, you can gamble on real-time moneylines, player props and inning totals. Live betting is open during every commercial break! The ballgame between the Houston Astros and Texas Rangers will take place Thursday, June 9, 2016, at 2:05 p.m. ET at Globe Life Park in Arlington. You can watch the contest live on the MLB Network.
