The New York Yankees and the Texas Rangers will close out a four-game set on Thursday night. It’s time to continue our MLB odds series and make a Yankees-Rangers prediction and pick.
New York has taken a 2-1 series lead over the Rangers and will look to clinch the series with a win. The Yankees are flying high after a historic performance from Corey Kluber on Wednesday night. Kluber finished with a no-hitter and was just one walk away from a perfect game. Texas will look for revenge and salvage the series at their home ballpark.
Here’s how sportsbooks have set the opening Yankees-Rangers odds.
MLB Odds: Yankees-Rangers Odds
New York Yankees -1.5 (+127)
Texas Rangers +1.5 (-147)
Over 8 Runs (-113)
Under 8 Runs (-107)
Why The Yankees Could Cover The Spread
The New York Yankees are red-hot and they are now just 1.5 games back of the Boston Red Sox in the division. The Yankees are 23-19 on the season and although they are currently in fourth place in the American League East, they are certainly on their way back to the top. New York is 7-3 in its last 10 games and has been stellar in the month of May.
One would have to assume that this team has all of the confidence in the world after their guy just threw a no-no. Kluber was absolutely dealing against this struggling Rangers lineup. The brilliant pitching performance masked the struggling Yankee bats in game three of this series. New York still ranks toward the bottom of the league offensively, but has made huge strides of late and seems to be returning to form.
Yankee right-hander Domingo German will get the nod in the series finale. German is currently 3-2 with a 3.62 ERA this season. He has been dealing of late with three straight quality starts for New York. German is coming off of a brilliant six-inning performance against the Orioles in his last start. He allowed just one earned run and struck out six batters over six innings of work to earn the victory.
Why The Rangers Could Cover The Spread
The Texas Rangers are beginning to officially implode, which shouldn't come as much of a surprise. Texas was actually looking like an up-and-coming ball club as the calendar turned to May, but the past week has shown their true colors. They have now lost eight of their last nine games, with the only win coming in game one of this series against the Yankees. The Rangers are now 19-25 overall in sitting in fifth place in the American League Central.
Texas has struggled in pretty much every department this season. The Texans are 19th in the league in runs scored and own the 23rd-worst strikeout rate in baseball. Match that with a pitching staff that owns a 4.42 team-ERA in May and you have a recipe for disaster. Giving up a lot of runs and not scoring many won't win you a lot of games, which is what we've seen from the Rangers lately. They do have a strength, though. Texas is currently 12th in the league in hitting home runs, which has allowed the Rangers to steal a couple of games.
Texas will turn to right-hander Dane Dunning with hopes of salvaging this series. Dunning is 2-3 with a 4.34 ERA in eight starts this season. Dunning has really struggled this season as he has only gotten out of the fifth inning one time this season. He has given up at least four earned runs in three of his past five starts to date. Needless to say, the Rangers will need a huge reversal of fortunes from their right-hander if they are going to pull off the upset.
Final Yankees-Rangers Prediction & Pick
I'm not sure what Vegas was thinking when they released the odds for this game. There is phenomenal value here. New York is the far better team and there is a huge disparity in the pitching matchup. Domingo German looks like his old self and Dane Dunning will be hoping to make it past the fourth inning of this game. Texas doesn't have a solid bullpen behind him either. It's not a matter of if, but a matter of how much the Yankees will defeat the Rangers by in the series finale.
FINAL PICK: New York Yankees ML (-120)
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