Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images. Pictured: Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Cole Irvin.
Athletics vs. Rangers Odds
| Athletics Odds | -129 |
| Rangers Odds | +110 |
| Over/Under | 9 |
| Time | 8:05 p.m. ET |
| How To Watch | YouTube |
| Odds as of Tuesday afternoon via DraftKings. | |
The Oakland A’s have dropped three games in a row but prior to that were one of the hottest teams in the league. Even with the recent slide, the A’s are 13-5 during the month of June and are one game back of the Houston Astros in the AL West.
The Texas Rangers are at the bottom of the AL West standings and are just 4-13 in June. However, the Rangers took game one of this series 8-3 last night, powered by a five-run first inning.
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Oakland Athletics
It has been and up-and-down season for Cole Irvin (LHP) in his first year in Oakland. After two seasons and just 19 appearances with the Phillies, Irvin was traded to the A’s and has made 14 starts this season.
Every time Irvin starts to show signs of success, a blow up start has followed closely. He has posted six starts where he allowed just one run or fewer. But he has also had six starts allowing at least four runs.
Overall, Irvin is 4-7 with a 3.89 ERA and 3.86 FIP. He has just a 6.22 K/9 and looks more to generate soft contact and ground balls with his sinking fastball and changeup.
Oakland’s lineup has been red hot since the start of June. Over that time they have scored the third most runs in the league. They rank seventh in batting average, fifth in wOBA and fourth in wRC+ since June 1.
Matt Olson has been crushing the ball, batting .420 with a 1.265 OPS during June, and Matt Chapman, Mark Canha and Tony Kemp have all gotten hot as well.
Texas Rangers
Late last night, Texas scratched Jordan Lyles from today’s start and instead will go with Taylor Hearn (LHP) to make his first start of the season. Hearn will likely only give the Rangers 2-3 innings as he has made just one career start, back in 2019.
Hearn has made 22 appearances out of the bullpen this year, and has a 4.84 ERA and .268 batting average against. Three full innings is the most he has pitched in a game this season, meaning this will mostly be a bullpen game. The Texas reliever’s rank 22nd in bullpen ERA This season.
Offensively, the Rangers lineup is pretty lackluster. They rank just 24th in runs per game, 25th in wRC+, and 27th in wOBA
Joey Gallo is the big name in this lineup, however he has really struggled this season and is batting just .217 with a .779 OPS. Instead it has been rookie Adolis Garcia who has slugged 18 home runs and has a .839 OPS this season.
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Athletics-Rangers Pick
Irvin has been a hard person to bet on this year as he typically either looks great, or gets completely shelled. The good news is, you don’t usually have to sweat out a bet on him. You either win it with ease, or lose it immediately and it never has a chance.
I am going to back Irvin to have a good game against am uninspiring Texas offense, especially at home where they average just 3.74 runs per game.
Hearn is making just his second career start, and his first time did not go well, allowing five runs in less than an inning. The Rangers lack bullpen depth and will struggle to keep the Oakland lineup quiet all game.
The Athletics have advantage in starting pitching, and a sizeable advantage at the plate. Oakland is the much better team and I like them to bounce back in the second game of the series.
Pick: Oakland ML (-129 — play to -135)
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