Overview
The Texas Rangers are in Cleveland again today where they take on the Indians in the second game of a three game series. The Rangers haven’t had much luck versus the Indians over the past few seasons winning just 6 of the last 20 meetings but it does look like the momentum has turned in this series as the Rangers have now won 4 of the last 5 meetings.
Head to Head Trends
Rangers are 4-1 in the last 5 meetings.
Rangers are 3-7 in the last 10 meetings in Cleveland.
Cleveland Indians (-170)
The Cleveland Indians are 2nd in the American League Central with a 26-23 record 1.5 games back of the 1st place Kansas City Royals. The Indians have a solid offense averaging 4.80 runs per game but at home that jumps all the way up to 5.39 runs per game. That’s great and all but their pitching takes a hit at home as well going from 4.18 runs per game overall to 4.83 runs per game at home.
Starting for the Indians today is Corey Kluber who is 4-5 with 3.78 in his 10 starts this season. Kluber is probably the Indians best starter and even though he’s still a good pitcher he’s not the pitcher he was a couple seasons ago when he went 18-9 with a 2.44 ERA and 269 strikeouts.
Cleveland Indians Trends
Indians are 2-5 in Klubers last 7 home starts.
Indians are 1-5 in their last 6 vs. American League West.
Texas Rangers (+150)
The Texas Rangers are 1st in the American League West with a 30-21 record just a half game up on the 2nd place Seattle Mariners. The Rangers are red hot right now winning 8 of their last 10 games in large part due to their offense who have been crushing the ball of late batting over .300 and averaging 7.20 runs per game over their last 5 games.
On the hill for the Rangers in this one is Colby Lewis who is 4-0 with a 3.38 ERA on the season. Lewis has pitched surprisingly well this season 8 of his 10 starts have been quality starts. Lewis has also pitched great on the road so far this season where he is 2-0 with a 1.73 ERA.
Texas Rangers Trends
Rangers are 5-1 in their last 6 overall.
Rangers are 15-7 in Lewis’ last 22 starts vs. a team with a winning record.
Conclusion
I’m going with the Texas Rangers over the Indians again today. This is a pure value play, win or not +150 for the Rangers is just way too high. The Rangers are probably the better team overall and the two starting pitchers have very similar numbers so there’s not a huge advantage for either team especially for one of the teams to be a fairly big -170 favorite.
Free Pick: Texas Rangers +150
