Yesterday was a winning day on the diamond as both MLB plays that I put out came through for us and cashed. We only have about 10 games remaining for the teams. The playoffs are within reach for some teams, and others are looking at some options for the future. Tonight we have a game between one team that has already locked up their spot, the Red Sox, and another team still battling to try and get in, the Rangers.
The Boston Red Sox are 12 games above .500, and they have been one of the best teams in baseball over the past couple of months. They’ve been very streaky, winning multiple games at a time and moving up the standings. The Red Sox are currently sitting in the second spot in the Wild Card, and they control their own destiny. Much of the early-season problem was how the team was playing in Boston. They are just one game over .500 at home, but they are 11 games above on the road.
One guy who did excel in Fenway is tonight’s starter, Sonny Gray. He has been good on the road as well and has put together one of the best seasons of his career. Gray is 17-5 with a 2.76 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP. This has been the most games he has ever won, and if it stands will be his second-lowest ERA ever. His road ERA is actually better than his home ERA, and his night games have been fantastic this season. He has thrown 13 innings this month and allowed just three earned runs. Gray faced the Rangers once this season, and he allowed just one earned run over six innings.
The Texas Rangers have a much more difficult path to the postseason. The team is .500 for the year, and there are questions about whether anyone who wins the American League West will finish the season with a winning record. They have chosen a great time to get hot, though, as they’ve won their past four games and are now tied with the Astros for the division lead. They are also just one game behind the White Sox for the final Wild Card spot. This game would go a long way for the team in getting closer to one of those two options.
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Coming into the season, I was expecting the Rangers to be one of the better teams in the division, mostly due to their rotation. Jacob deGrom, Nathan Eovaldi, and MacKenzie Gore were guys I expected to give them a good chance in the majority of games. Tonight, though, the Rangers won’t rely on their starters. They are sending out Tyler Alexander to start the game. He brings a 3.38 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP to the table over 66.2 innings. The Rangers have a rough bullpen with a collective 4.27 ERA.
I’m not really sure why the line is moving toward the Rangers for this game. Sonny Gray is a significantly better pitcher and way more reliable than anyone from the Rangers bullpen. The smart move, to me, is not to worry about the full game and just isolate when we can assume Gray will be on the hill. Give me the Red Sox through five innings.
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