The Texas Rangers and Minnesota Twins will continue a four-game series on Saturday night at Target Field. Friday's series opener finished by a 2-1 final in favor of the Twins, who cashed in as a -135 favorite. Texas is out of contention at 53-66, while the Twins are one game behind in the AL Central at 62-55.
These teams met in Texas back in early July, with the Twins taking two of three.
It was a busy week for the Rangers as they made changes both at manager and in the front office, with the team not showing much fight on the field in another loss on Friday. Only an RBI single from the red hot Nathaniel Lowe in the sixth prevented the shutout, with the offense managing only four hits overall.
Martin Perez took a tough-luck loss, allowing two runs on five hits and three walks while striking out seven. Leoday Tavares was the only member of the Rangers to reach base twice.
The Rangers are down a fair amount on the money line for the season while going a strong 67-52 on the run line. Overs are 58-55-6 for Texas, with only one of its last five games going under the betting total.
Texas is right around middle of the pack offensively at 4.46 runs per game on a .701 team OPS. It hasn't gone as well for a bottom 10 pitching staff that has a 4 .09 ERA including a mark of 3.75 from the bullpen.
Corey Seager is Texas' top threat at the plate, posting a .799 OPS with 26 homers and 60 RBI in his first year after inking a major free agent deal. Jonah Heim is also one of the best hitting catchers in baseball, posting a .780 OPS with 13 homers and 43 driven in.
Glenn Otto will get the ball for the 19th time, hoping to get a tough campaign turned around as he's 5-8 with a 4.96 ERA across 89 innings. The 26-year-old is coming off one of his better performances on Monday against the Oakland Athletics, allowing one run on two hits and six walks over six innings, striking out one in the win.
Outfielders Eli White (wrist surgery) and Kole Calhoun (heel irritation) plus designated hitter Mitch Garver (flexor tendon surgery) are out. Starting pitchers Jon Gray (strained oblique) and Spencer Howard (shoulder impingement) are sidelined. The bullpen is missing Joe Barlow (blister) and Dennis Santana (sprained ankle) due to injury.