MLB Betting – Rays Meet Rangers In Unexpected Matchup

Not many people pegged the Texas Rangers-Tampa Bay Rays American League Divisional Series matchup but the two surprise entrants will go head-to-head starting Wednesday.

It’s an intriguing matchup as both teams are led by All-Star lefties in David Price and Cliff Lee. The Rays finished with the best record in baseball but there is ample reason to believe that the Rangers will give them all they can handle…and maybe more.

MLB Betting Advantage: Pitching

While the Rangers are mostly known as a hitting team, that changed in 2010. The team registered an ERA of 3.93, which was the franchise’s lowest total since 1990, when it was 3.83.

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The general perception is that the Rays have a significant advantage in this series but they really don’t. The Rangers ranked 10th in baseball with their team ERA whereas the Rays were eighth (3.78).

The Rays have more starting depth but that may not matter in a short series. They’ll start with David Price, then move to Matt Garza, and include two of the following three: Wade Davis, James Shields and Jeff Niemann.

Garza is the big key here. We know that he has pitched like an MVP in the playoffs before but he is inconsistent. He had an ERA of 5.88 in September, which is also a big concern.

For the Rangers, they’ll start with Cliff Lee, then move to C.J. Wilson, which gives them the better 1-2 punch this year. Beyond that, the Rangers also have a lights out bullpen.

We’ll give the Rays the edge here slightly but this is closer than most people think.

MLB Betting Advantage: Hitting

Hitting figures to be a huge difference in this series – and maybe even the deciding factor. The Rangers led the Majors in team batting average (.276) whereas the Rays finished 27th overall (.247).

From top to bottom, the Rangers have power, depth and excellent hitters the entire way through. They have batting champions in Michael Young and Josh Hamilton, MVP’s in Vladimir Guerrero and lots of other weapons.

While that’s a concern for the Rays, the bigger issue will be the health of one of their own best weapons: Evan Longoria. He has a strained left quad and he hasn’t played since September 23rd. He should be ready to go but if he’s not 100%, that’s going to be a big blow to the Rays batting lineup.

Overall, any way you cut it, the Rangers have the edge here. Without Longoria, this is an even bigger landslide.

MLB Betting Prediction

The Rays have experience and home-field advantage in this series, but aside from that, the Rangers could be the better team. It’s a five-game series, so Game 1 will be crucial.

An interesting note is that the Rays hammered left-handed pitching this year, going 36-19 against lefties. Meanwhile, Texas was just 28-23.

Nonetheless, this Rangers squad is simply underrated. With excellent pitching, better hitting and the underdog factor, they are the value bet here at +125.

Pick: Rangers +125

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