ODDS ANALYSIS
Two struggling teams meet in a series for the first time this season when the Texas Rangers visit the Boston Red Sox. The Sox, one of the worst hitting teams in the majors, look to put their light-hitting road trip behind them and break out against a Rangers staff that made significant changes over the weekend.
The Rangers ended a three-game losing streak and a seven-game homestand with a 5-1 win over Cleveland on Sunday in a rare well-pitched game for them. Texas is in the red 1.46 units on the moneyline for the season but they were exceptional in their last road trip going 5-2 ending in the black 5.24 units on trips to Houston and Tampa Bay. The over is 6-3-1 in the Rangers last 10 games overall and 4-1 in the last five on the road.
The Sox committed a lot of money in the offseason to help improve last season’s weak offense and have seen very little return on their investment. Their just completed 10-game road trip produced seven games with two or fewer runs with the under going 7-2-1 and the Sox were still able to squeeze out five wins finishing the trip in the black 0.94 units. The Sox have struggled though on the moneyline down 4.24 units with a 7-9 home record for the season.
PITCHING MATCHUP
Texas’ Phil Klein (0-0, 7.71 ERA) was recalled from Triple-A Round Rock to make his first career start. He made six relief appearances earlier this season before being optioned to Round Rock in mid-April after giving up four runs in 4.2 innings. He appeared in six games with two starts at Triple-A posting a 1.69 ERA and 15 strikeouts in 16 innings.
Joe Kelly (1-2, 5.58 ERA) turned in one of his best performances of the season in his last outing, holding the Mariners to five hits and a run over 6.1 innings. He took a no-decision in Boston’s 2-1 win ending a streak of four straight outings with five or more earned runs and lowering his ERA to 5.58.
Kelly will make his first career start and second appearance against the Rangers on Wednesday. He went five shutout innings in relief against Texas on June 21, 2013 as a member of the St. Louis Cardinals.
QUOTE TO NOTE
“We’re looking at different combinations. I don’t know if we’re looking at a complete lineup shakeup. We need guys jut to perform as they’ve done for many years – nothing more, but perform like they’ve done over a long track record at the major league level.” – Red Sox manager John Farrell on his team’s recent offensive woes
LIVE BETTING or SITUATIONAL BETTING
One area that has kept the Rangers from having a much better record is their bullpen and the team made a few adjustments to its relief corps over the weekend to help stabilize a fragile group. The club also announced that closer Neftali Feliz will no longer be the automatic choice when Texas takes a lead into the ninth inning after his third blown save in nine chances Saturday. The Rangers recalled relievers Tanner Scheppers and Ross Ohlendorf after the group posted a 6.07 ERA during a 10-game stretch that ended with Sunday’s win. “It’s no secret our bullpen has scuffled and we feel we’re at a point where we need to go with our best options now,” GM Jon Daniels said. The bullpen struggles of the Rangers and the hitting woes of the Red Sox makes for some interesting matchups in this series.
PROP TALK
His numbers have decreased in recent years but Texas outfielder Shin-soo Choo remains a threat at the dish. Like many of the Rangers Choo had a slow start, hitting below .100 at the end of April, but a strong first half of May – he’s hitting .347 during the month – has lifted his average to .242. Not that impressive but considering where he was, it’s darn good and going to get better. Choo is a career .282 hitter against the Red Sox and has three hits in six lifetime at-bats versus Joe Kelly, including a home run. Opposing batters hit .269 against Kelly at Fenway Park and that’s a good sign for Choo. Look for him to get a few hits on Wednesday.
ANALYSIS AND PREDICTION
Last month the Rangers struggled to score runs and it cost them games. The offense hasn’t been a problem this month, instead the bullpen has failed to do its job and it cost the Rangers games. If this team can put it together they have a chance to be pretty good. We saw that Sunday when the beleaguered pen strung together four scoreless innings to preserve a 5-1 win over Cleveland breaking a three-game slide. With several starters on the shelf Texas turns to Phil Klein to make his first career start. He gets a rude welcome by the hungry Red Sox.
Boston’s offensive woes can be directly attributed to off-season acquisitions Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval, both of whom have struggled recently while the team treads water in the AL East. The Sox enter the week as one of the worst hitting teams in baseball with a .229 average, a far cry from where this team was two weeks into the season. A plus for the Sox is that the pitching has performed much better helping them split a 10-game road trip when the offense batted just .201. A return home will spark the bats, so will a weak Rangers staff.
Boston 7, Texas 3
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