In the first of a three-game series between the Texas Rangers (7-14) and the Oakland Athletics (7-14) at Globe Life Park in Arlington, Colby Lewis (1-2, 3.75 ERA) and Scott Kazmir (2-0, 0.99 ERA) get the ball. The game starts at 8:05 p.m. ET on Friday, May. 1 and will air on CSN-CA and FSN-SW.
Lewis has a 3.15 ERA and a 9-4 record in his career against the Athletics, but faces a solid Oakland offense that’s hitting .265 on the year. Mitch Moreland (.304, 2 Rs, 1 HR, 9 RBIs) went 1 for 4 Wednesday. In his career against the Rangers, Kazmir is 10-5 with a 3.12 ERA. He meets a less-than-stellar Texas offense that’s batting just .210. Josh Reddick (.368, 8 Rs, 2 HRs, 12 RBIs, 2 SBs) has been hitting the ball well for the Athletics, going 2 for 4 yesterday with two runs.
Texas is a +123 underdog in this game and the Over/Under (O/U) is set at eight runs. The Rangers perform poorly as an underdog with a 6-12 record and have an overall money line of -505. They are 2-7 as the underdog over their last 10 games.
Moving on to the opposing team, the Athletics come into this game with a weak win percentage of 4-9 when playing as the favorite (.308) and an overall money line of -637. Over the past 10 matchups, they are 3-7 SU and have played poorly as the favorite with a 1-5 record. Oakland is one of the top hitting teams in the AL with an average of 9.2 hits per contest. The Athletics average just 6.5 strikeouts per game, one of the lowest marks in the AL. Switching gears to Oakland’s pitching staff, they have the fourth-lowest ERA in the AL at 3.59. They also allow just 7.5 hits per game, good for fourth in the AL.
The Rangers will take on a left-hander (Kazmir) in this game. They have done very poorly against left-handed starting pitchers this season (2-6), especially at home where they have a 0-3 record. Taking the hill against the Athletics will be the right-hander Lewis. They sport an 8-9 record against righties.
Predictions: SU Winner – OAK, O/U – Over
Notes
In their last game, the Athletics lost by a margin of one run. The Rangers are 1-3 in one-run games. The Athletics have a 0-5 record in close games.
Oakland has won 23% (3-10) of its games when leading after 7 innings. However, Texas has won 25% (3-9) of its games when taking a late lead.
The Rangers are coming off of a weak pitching game where they recorded five strikeouts. The Athletics have a record of 4-4 when opponents’ pitchers have that many strikeouts or fewer.
When they are outhit, the Athletics are 1-9. The Rangers have a 3-11 record when opponents outhit them.
Texas ranks near the bottom of the league at 26th when it comes to home runs, hitting 13 this season. Oakland ranks in the top half at 15th with 18.
Ranking 15th, Texas is in the top half of the league in hits, notching 7.10 per game. Oakland ranks in the top five at fourth with 9.23.
Ranking 29th, Texas is near the bottom of the league for its on-base plus slugging percentage (.611). Oakland ranks in the top 10 at 10th with an OPS of .724.
The Athletics are 1-9 when they allow at least one home run. The Rangers perform similarly when they allow one or more homers with a 2-10 record.
