Oakland Athletics vs Texas Rangers Prediction and Betting Odds July 22
Oakland Athletics vs Texas Rangers Betting Preview
WagerTalk MLB analyst Brian Ochsner offers his analysis of Friday night’s Oakland Athletics vs Texas Rangers Prediction and Betting Odds July 22 clash at RingCentral Coliseum. The Athletics split a double header with the Tigers yesterday but still remain the AL’s worst team.
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| Friday, July 22 | MLB Betting Notes, Courtesy of Caesars |
|---|---|
| Moneyline: | Oakland Athletics -100 vs Texas Rangers -110 |
| Runline: | Athletics +1.5 (-170) / Rangers -1.5 (+150) |
| Total: | 7 Runs (Over -125 / Under +105) |
| Game Time: | 9:40pm ET / 6:40pm PT |
| Where: | RingCentral Coliseum in Oakland, CA |
| Weather: | 55 Degrees / Clear |
Oakland Athletics vs Texas Rangers Analysis
The Texas Rangers travel west to visit RingCentral Coliseum and play the Oakland Athletics Friday night in the first of a three game set. Right hander Spencer Howard takes the bump against southpaw Cole Irvin, with first pitch scheduled for 9:40 PM Eastern time.
The Rangers won in Miami Thursday night 8-0 behind six shutout innings from starter Jon Gray, and the A’s split a double-header at home versus the Tigers.
Rangers Relying on Howard
Texas’ offense has gotten a boost from CF Leody Taveras, who’s running as hot as summer in the Lone Star State. He’s hitting over .400 in his last 7 and 15 games, and at a .345 clip in his last 30 games. His season long average is .344 with an OPS of .924 and has stolen five bases.
The Rangers’ team hitting has gotten better this season, as they sport a 16th best OPS of .700 with a team batting average of .239. Where they really excel is the long ball with 118 home runs, good for 8th best in MLB.
Starter Spencer Howard doesn’t have great numbers this year with a 6.97 ERA and 1.74 WHIP in 20.2 innings and four starts with 18 strikeouts.
The long ball has been a problem, as he’s given up eight homers this season – but four of those were in his first start back in April against a then-hot Blue Jays team. Howard has pitched well in his last two outings, going 5.0 innings on July 11 and July 16 against Oakland and Seattle and only giving up a combined three earned runs.
Irvin Increasing Value on Oakland
Cole Irvin is one of the few bright spots on this bad Athletics team. In 16 starts and 95.1 innings the southpaw has put up a 3.21 ERA, a solid 1.10 WHIP with 62 strikeouts.
Control has been very good, giving up just 19 walks and 11 home runs. That comes to less than two free passes and just over one long fly per nine innings pitched.
Oakland Athletics vs Texas Rangers Prediction
Although the A’s aren’t a great hitting team this year, they have the starting pitching edge with Cole Irvin over the struggling Spencer Howard. However, the Oakland bullpen logged nine combined innings yesterday in the doubleheader against Detroit, and that could be a problem later in the game.
This Rangers team is on a mission to make a playoff run, as they started the second half hot with an 8-0 road win versus the Marlins.
On the other side, Oakland knows this season is a lost cause and there’s nothing to play for. Motivation is a big key during these dog days of summer, and the visiting team seems to have plenty of it. That’s why I’ll take Texas on the moneyline.
Prediction: Texas Rangers Moneyline
First Pitch | MLB Predictions for Friday, July 22
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WagerTalk’s Live Odds Screen features up-to-the-minute lines from a variety of offshore and domestic sports books. Track the MLB moneylines, run lines and betting percentages for all of Friday’s baseball games, including this Oakland Athletics vs Texas Rangers showdown, from your desktop or phone.
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Meet the Author
Brian Ochsner graduated from Kansas State University with degrees in Accounting and Agribusiness. He’s a life-long baseball fan and “numbers guy” who tolerates the Colorado Rockies (bad ownership), and is a Denver Broncos and Kansas State Wildcats fan. Along with his interest in the sports wagering industry, he enjoys eating good BBQ, reading books on marketing, finance and economics, and playing Texas Hold ‘Em poker.
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