MLB Baseball
2011-04-23 - Kansas City Royals at Texas Rangers
A Sports Betting Pick by Goober
Baseball: United States: MLB 2011
Saturday, April 23, 2011 - First Pitch 8:05 PM ET
The Texas Rangers (12-7) will host the Kansas City Royals (12-8) on Saturday night after hitting 5 home runs on Friday to beat the Royals 11-6.
The Royals are going to be hoping that Kyle Davies can slow down the Rangers offense tonight, but he doesn't have the track record to give them much hope. Davies is 1-1 on the season with a 7.20 ERA. He's allowed at least 4 runs in 3 of his 4 starts this year and the Rangers will be the highest scoring team he has faced so far.
Davies has also been bad against the Rangers in his career. He has made 7 starts and is 0-4 with an ERA of 6.38. He has allowed almost 2 baserunners per inning in that span as well.
Meanwhile the Texas Rangers have put themselves back in first place in the AL West after last night's win. Texas has the second best run differential (+27) in the American League, trailing only Cleveland in that department. The Rangers are also 8-2 at home now.
Alexi Ogando is 2-0 with a 2.33 ERA in 3 starts in 2011 after being a relief pitcher in 2010. Ogando did not allow a run in either of his first two starts, but then ran into trouble in Yankee Stadium last weekend giving up 5 runs in 6 1/3 innings.
Ogando has almost no experience against the Royals. He faced one batter last season and walked him in one of his relief appearances.
The Rangers will still be without reigning AL MVP Josh Hamilton, but they have plenty of firepower as they are scoring 5.3 runs per game.
With the Rangers impressive home record and this pitching matchup, it should a relatively easy win for the Rangers. I will take them on the run-line as 7 of their 8 home wins have been by 2 runs or more.
The Pick :
Texas 6, Kansas City 3
Gooner’s Statistical Value Bet
Take the Texas Rangers -1.5 runs @ 1.98 on Pinnacle.
