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Rangers vs. Athletics Prediction and Odds for Friday, April 22 (A Pair of Poor Pitchers on the Hill)

By Matt De Saro

Los Angeles Angels v Texas Rangers
Los Angeles Angels v Texas Rangers / Tom Pennington/GettyImages
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The Texas Rangers have the second-worst record in the MLB as they hit the road to kick off a three-game series against the Oakland Athletics. Forget a .500 record, the Rangers are trying to stay north of .200 right now with a 3-9 record overall. Only the 2-11 Reds are worse. The Rangers were able to snap a five-game losing streak on Thursday by beating the Mariners 8-6. The fact that the Rangers have a team ERA over six doesn’t help matters. Basically, they have proven to be one of the worst teams top to bottom that we are going to see this season. 

The Athletics, meanwhile, are 8-6 early on and rank second in the AL West. While the A’s aren’t a powerhouse team and rank in the middle in most metrics, they are still a big step ahead of the lowly Rangers. 

Here are the odds for this game, courtesy of WynnBET Sportsbook. 

Rangers vs. Athletics Odds, Run Line, and Total

Run Line

  • Rangers: -1.5 (+130)
  • Athletics: +1.5 (-160)

Moneyline:

  • Rangers: -127
  • Athletics: +117

Total:

  • Total 7.5 (Over -115/Under -105)

Rangers vs. Athletics Prediction and Pick

While you might be waiting for me to fade the Rangers here, I won’t be so quick to count them out of this game. The thing is, the Athletics are starting rookie Adam Oller in his third appearance of the season. His debut starts in the MLB was a brutal 1 ⅓ inning appearance in which he surrenderd five earned runs and walked three batters.  Oller improved in his second game but still lasted just 3 ⅓ innings with three runs, three walks, and three strikeouts. 

Another slight knock on the A’s is that this will be their fifth game in as many days. MLB players are used to playing a lot, but five in a row this early in the year is still significant. 

The Rangers, meanwhile are starting Glenn Otto tonight after Jon Gray was sent to tie IL. Otto made six starts for Texas last season finished with a 9.26 ERA and 1.71 WHIP in 23 ⅓ innings. 

I think that based on this, I feel the total for this game is very low. I realize that neither team is a powerhouse on offense. But, these pitchers have the chance to be so bad, it won't matter much. Any MLB hitter could tee off against this pair and I think we could see a high-scoring game on Friday night at the O.co Coliseum. 

Pick: OVER 7.5 (-115)

Follow all of Matt De Saro’s betting picks HERE

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