On Saturday- the Texas Rangers and Washington Nationals will square off. This is the middle game of a three-game series to wrap up the first half of the Major League Baseball season for both teams.
Texas won the first game of the series and moved to 15 games over .500 on the season.
The Rangers are 52-37 and hold a lead on the Houston Astros for first place in the division. The win for Texas snapped a two-game losing streak. The Rangers are now 25-19 on the road.
For Washington, they are in last place in the National League East. The Nationals are only ahead of Colorado in the entire National League. Washington, with the loss, dropped to 13-32 on the road and 34-54 on the season. The Nationals have dropped five straight games.
The Texas Rangers are favorites in this game at -170. The Rangers and Nationals have a combined run total of 9.5 runs for this one.
Heaney Gets the Nod for Texas
Andrew Heaney expects to return from the paternity list to make this start for Texas. The 32-year-old lefthander is 5-5 on the season, with a 4.12 earned run average. Heaney has struck out 89 batters on the season. In his career, the lefthander has made 142 starts and struck out 849 batters.
The Rangers are the top-scoring team in all of Major League Baseball. Along with that, their .275 team batting is tops in baseball as well. Adolis Garcia is the latest of five American League All-Star Game starters for Texas. Garcia leads the team with 22 home runs and 71 runs batted in.
The Rangers also have seen seven guys in their lineup hit double-digit home runs, with the biggest surprise coming from catcher Jonah Heim, with 12.
Struggles Remain in Washington
The Washington Nationals have lost five in a row and have not really been all that competitive. In their five straight losses, the Nationals are losing by an average of 3.5 runs per game. That does not include the recent 19-4 loss at the Phillies. Washington is 26th in team runs scored and 26th in runs allowed.
The teams are hitting .271 against them on the season. On the offensive side, Lane Thomas has been a big positive, as he leads the team with a .305 batting average, 14 home runs, and 48 runs batted in.
Jake Irvin is expected to get the start for Washington. The 26-year-old from Minnesota has struggled, like much of the Nationals staff. Irvin is 1-5 on the season, with a 4.70 earned run average. In his last start, Irvin went six innings, allowing six hits and three runs in a loss to the Reds. Irvin has 53.2 innings thrown this season and allowed 52 hits.
Rangers Win Again
The Rangers are doing and should do in this game what first-place teams should do. The Rangers should win this game. They have a better starting pitcher, and their offense is much better.
Look for Texas to hit the baseball all around the field and get Jake Irvin out of the game early. Washington’s bullpen is pretty poor as well.
The Rangers are going to win this game. Bet Texas -170, and look at the over 9.5 runs with Texas scoring a bunch.
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