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AL West rivals collide when the Rangers and Angels open a four-game series in Arlington Monday night. Dane Dunning, with his 2.52 ERA, takes the pill for Texas here against lefty Tyler Anderson for Los Angeles. Which way are we going with our free baseball betting pick?
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MLB Betting Odds<br />
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Monday's baseball betting market opened Texas and Dunning at around -150 over Los Angeles and Anderson, with an over/under of 9.5 runs. Both figures were holding steady in the early betting action. Angels-Rangers Betting Preview Los Angeles just took two of three games at home from Seattle over the weekend, winning Sunday's series rubber match 9-4. Just before that, the Angels swept three games from the Cubs, while just before that, they took the last game of a series at Houston. So Los Angeles is 6-1 over its last seven games. At 36-31 overall, the Angels sit in seventh place in the American League playoff standings, one game behind sixth-place Toronto. Meanwhile, Texas lost two of three games at Tampa Bay over the weekend, dropping Sunday's series rubber match 7-3. But just before that, the Rangers took two of three from St. Louis, and just before that, they swept three games from the Mariners. Going back a bit further, Texas is 6-1 over its last seven series and 15-6 over its last 21 games. At 41-23 overall, the Rangers occupy second place in the AL playoff standings. This series is the second meeting between these teams this season; back a month ago, Texas took two of three games out in Anaheim.
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Monday's Pitching Match-Up<br />
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Dunning is 2/6 on quality starts this season, to go along with eight appearances in relief. Last Tuesday against the Cardinals, he gave up four runs and seven hits, including three home runs, through 5 2/3 innings of a 6-4 Texas victory. But over his three starts previous to that, he held foes to five runs through 16 2/3 innings. The Rangers are 3-3 when Dunning starts this season, but that's probably one game worse than they should be, based on his performances. Over his last six starts against the Angels, five last season and one earlier this season, Dunning allowed 13 runs and 32 hits through 32 innings. Texas won four of those six games. Anderson is 3/11 on quality starts this year and 0 for his last two. Last Tuesday against the Cubs, he gave up four runs on five hits and three walks through five innings, although Los Angeles won that game 7-4. And just before that, the White Sox got him for six runs in four innings of a 7-3 Angels defeat. Los Angeles is 7-4 with Anderson this season, although that's a couple of games better than they should be, based on what he's done. In Anderson's last start against the Rangers, back in early May, he gave up three runs - two earned - on five hits and five walks through five frames of a 5-4 Los Angeles win.
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Splits With the Sticks<br />
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The Angels are batting .251 against right-handed pitching this season, with a .325 team OBP and a .429 team slugging percentage. Texas is slashing .289/.363/.462 against left-handed pitching. Numbers like those lead us to rank this line-up among the top four in Baseball in this split.
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The Bullpens<br />
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The Rangers bullpen owns a 4.39 ERA this season, along with a 1.24 WHIP and a 2.68 K/BB ratio. The Los Angeles pen owns a 3.38 ERA, a 1.24 WHIP, and a 2.51 K/BB ratio.
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MLB Betting Trends<br />
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Los Angeles is 16-17 on the road this season but 29-21 against right-handed starters. Texas is 21-9 at home and 12-7 against left-handed starters.
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Totals Report<br />
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The totals are split 32-32 in Angels games this season.
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The overs are 36-25 in Rangers games.
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The overs are 18-9 at Globe Life Field this season.
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