Sunday, August 24, 2014

Globe Life Park in Arlington

For Updated Odds on This Game Click Here

On Sunday, Jason Vargas (10-6) will be going for his third consecutive win when he and the Kansas City Royals face off against Miles Mikolas (1-5) and the Texas Rangers.

Left-hander Jason Vargas followed up his shutout on August 13 with another good outing last week against the Minnesota Twins on the road. In that win, he gave up just one run in seven innings of work while walking one batter and striking out three. Vargas now has a 3.17 ERA on the year and he has only walked 1.8 batters per nine innings.

Rangers backup catcher Geovany Soto has four hits in 10 at-bats against Vargas in his career with a double and a home run. Third baseman Adrian Beltre is just 4-for-30 against him with three walks and three strikeouts.

Miles Mikolas had his winless streak go to five games last Tuesday when he was beaten by the Miami Marlins on the road. He pitched five innings in that outing and gave up three runs on eight hits while walking one batter and striking out six. Through nine starts this year, Mikolas has a very high 7.48 ERA and he has given up 61 hits in 49.1 innings.

Royals outfielder Nori Aoki is 0-for-1 against Mikolas in his career. The rest of the Royals will be going up against him for the first time on Sunday afternoon.

Kansas City Royals Betting Trends

Kansas City Royals are 58-63-5 against the Over/Under

Run Differential for Kansas City Royals is 0.2

Texas Rangers Betting Trends

Texas Rangers are 57-61-8 against the Over/Under

Run differential for Texas Rangers is -1.1

Injuries to Watch

Kansas City Royals

08/20/14 C Salvador Perez Knee questionable
08/14/14 P Scott Downs Neck 15-day DL (8/3)
08/01/14 1B Eric Hosmer Hand 15-day DL (8/1)
03/30/14 P Luke Hochevar Elbow 60-day DL (3/21)

Texas Rangers

08/13/14 P Yu Darvish Elbow 15-day DL (8/10)
07/26/14 LF Jake Smolinski Foot 15-day DL (7/22)
06/11/14 P Tanner Scheppers Elbow 15-day DL (6/11)
06/10/14 1B Mitch Moreland Ankle 15-day DL (6/8)
06/04/14 P Alexi Ogando Elbow 60-day DL (6/3)
06/04/14 P Matt Harrison Back 60-day DL (5/14), out for season
05/22/14 1B Prince Fielder Neck 60-day DL (5/17)
05/21/14 P Martin Perez Elbow 60-day DL (5/11)
04/25/14 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff Back 60-day DL (4/23); out for season
04/23/14 P Pedro Figueroa Elbow 60-day DL (4/23)
03/31/14 2B Jurickson Profar Shoulder 60-day DL (3/23)
03/28/14 RF Engel Beltre Leg 60-day DL (3/26)

Josh's Pick: Take Kansas City

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