AL West rivals will open a four-game series on Thursday night when the Teas Rangers visit the Los Angeles Angels in Anaheim. Texas is coming off a sweep at the hands of the Seattle Mariners capped by a 4-2 loss on Wednesday as a -119 favorite to fall to 43-54 on the season. Los Angeles is having a rough season at 42-56, but did take two of three from the Kansas City Royals including a 4-0 win on Wednesday as a +117 underdog.
The Rangers hold a narrow 5-4 head-to-head advantage this year after winning four of the last five meetings.
A horrendous record in close games has knocked the Rangers out of the playoff picture this season, and they suffered another narrow defeat in the finale against Seattle on Wednesday despite leading late. Charlie Culberson tied the score in the fifth on an RBI double before Jonah Heim hit the go-ahead RBI double the next inning, but Mariners star Julio Rodriguez decided things with a three-run homer in the seventh.
Jon Gray's hot streak came to an end as he allowed four runs on five hits and four walks across 6.1 innings, striking out eight. Adolis Garcia reached base twice and scored a run to pace the Texas offense.
“All day long, he had wipeout stuff,” Texas manager Chris Woodward said of Gray via MLB.com. “So obviously that's a tough situation, to kind of go ahead and make a mistake there. I think the ball kind of slipped out of his hand. It was probably the only one all day, honestly. He was mowing people down.”
Texas is down a significant amount on the money line for the season while going a strong 56-41 on the run line. Overs are 46-47-4 for the Rangers, with two of their last three games going under the betting total.
The Rangers have a solidly above average scoring offense at 4.55 runs per game on a .701 team OPS. Pitching has been more of an issue for the Rangers, who own a 4.09 combined ERA including a mark of 3.80 from a bullpen that is trending in the wrong direction lately.
Corey Seager is putting together a strong campaign after signing a massive deal in free agency last winter, posting a .795 OPS with 23 homers and 53 driven in. Heim is also one of the better hitting catchers in the league with a .784 OPS, 12 homers and 35 driven in.
Spencer Howard will make his eighth appearance and sixth start, hoping to get a tough yea r turned around as he's 1-2 with a 7.11 ERA in 25.1 total innings. The 25-year-old is coming off a loss to the Oakland Athletics last Friday, when he allowed four runs on six hits and three walks across 4.2 innings, striking out three.
Catcher Mitch Garver (flexor tendon surgery), outfielder Eli White (wrist surgery) and utilityman Brad Miller (strained neck) are out. Reliever Joe Barlow is sidelined by a blister.