Mariners vs. Rangers Prediction and Odds for Thursday, July 14 (Texas Stops Seattle's Streak Behind Martín Perez)

What's more impressive? The 47-42 Seattle Mariners winning 10 straight games, or winning 18 of their last 21 games?

The answer can be, "both," but with a win tonight, Seattle would hit 11 consecutive games, the second-most in franchise history behind the 116-46 team in 2021 that knocked off 15 straight wins from May 23 to June 8.

Ichiro, Edgar Martinez and 37 HR, 141 RBI Bret Boone, say hello to Julio Rodriguez, Eugenio Suarez, and Ty France. What a time to be alive.

They'll look to join their counterparts of 20-plus years ago when they travel to Arlington to face the 41-45 Texas Rangers; who find themselves 4.5 games back of the Mariners in the AL West standings.

Here are the latest odds for tonight's AL West division showdown over at WynnBET Sportsbook.

Mariners vs. Rangers Odds, Run Line and Total

Run Line:

• Mariners +1.5 (-190)
• Rangers -1.5 (+155)

Moneyline:

• Mariners +110
• Rangers -120

Total:

8.5 (OVER -105 | UNDER -115)

Mariners vs. Rangers Prediction and Pick

Much like the Mariners, the also streaking Baltimore Orioles came into multiple matchups this week as underdogs vs. the Chicago Cubs despite playing far better than their opponents. Multiple times, they proved the oddsmakers wrong; winning as road favorites.

Seattle is a superior team to the Rangers, and it's easy to see a recent sample that shows why it makes sense to back the better team playing their best baseball of the season.

But that's not what I believe to be the right play.

Martín Pérez goes for the Rangers tonight and he's been sensational, as well as consistent all year long. The veteran left-hander has the lowest HR/9 on the slate at 0.50, and has pitched to a 2.72 ERA and a 3.07 Fielder Independent Pitching, or FIP. On the slate tonight, only Kevin Gausman, Carlos Rodón, and Corbin Burnes have been more valuable in WAR (wins above replacement to their team) than Peréz.

His counterpart, Marco Gonzales, has a very good 3.24 ERA, but he's due to regress heavily soon with a FIP of nearly two runs higher at 5.14. He doesn't strike anyone out (4.67 K/9) and gives up lots of fly balls and home runs.

We saw this very example play out in Anaheim Wednesday night with newly named AL MVP favorite Shohei Ohtani on the mound. The Angels have been the worst team in baseball since late May, with Ohtani accounting for 6 of their 12-38 record during that span when on the mound. Yet he and the Halos were favorites against a very good Houston Astros team with another good starter on the mound in Cristian Javier.

Momentum is only as good as your next day's starting pitcher, and in today's case, that belongs to Pérez.

LEAN: Rangers ML -120

Follow Ben's betting plays in real-time HERE!