Friday, August 29, 2014

Minute Maid Park in Houston

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The American League West will see the two teams at the bottom of the division this weekend when Minute Maid Park hosts the Houston Astros and the Texas Rangers. The visiting Rangers will send right-hander Scott Baker (2-3) against left-hander Brett Oberholtzer (4-9).

Texas will look to Baker in this game and the veteran pitcher will be making just his 6th start and 23 appearance of the season. With a 5.45 ERA, Baker has underperformed this season and is far from the same pitcher that won more than 11 games in 3 straight seasons from 2008-10. In 66 innings this season, he has struck out 44 batters and has walked just 12, but has allowed 40 earned runs. He will hope to get some run support from the Rangers, especially from stars like Adrian Beltre, Elvis Andrus, Alex Rios, and Shin-Soo Choo.

For the Astros, they will turn to Oberholtzer, who is in his second season in the Majors, to stay ahead of the Rangers in the West. He hasn’t pitched great this season, but has pitched extremely well in August. This will be his 6th start of the month and he is currently 1-2 with a 3.27 ERA. He hasn’t gotten the run support he needed and has allowed three runs or less in 4 starts. He has been spot-on with his control this month, striking out 26 and walking only 3 in 33 innings. If he can continue to pitch like he has this month against the Rangers, it could make for a great game to watch.

Texas Rangers Betting Trends

Texas Rangers are 57-64-10 against the Over/Under

Run Differential for Texas Rangers is -1.1

Houston Astros Betting Trends

Houston Astros are 63-67-3 against the Over/Under

Run differential for Houston Astros is -0.7

Injuries to Watch

Texas Rangers

08/26/14 P Derek Holland Back expected to miss another week
08/26/14 LF Shin-Soo Choo Elbow 60-day DL (8/26), out for season
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)

Houston Astros

07/29/14 P Josh Zeid Foot 15-day DL (7/25), out for season
07/23/14 RF George Springer Knee 15-day DL (7/20)
07/08/14 RF Alex Presley Oblique 15-day DL (7/7)
06/21/14 P Jose Cisnero Elbow 60-day DL (6/20)
04/26/14 P Matt Albers Shoulder 60-day DL (4/22)
03/31/14 P Alex White Elbow 15-day DL (3/21)
03/31/14 P Jesse Crain Bicep 60-day DL (3/21)

Guy's Pick: Take Houston

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