Baseball Odds - Darvish Gets Another Turn For First-Place Rangers

  • In Charles Jay
  • Wed, Jul 27th, 2016 4:17:36 pm
  • By Charles Jay - Exclusive to OSGA


The Texas Rangers will turn to Yu Darvish on Wednesday night as he continues his comeback from Tommy John surgery, taking on a hot rookie for the Oakland Athletics in American League action.

The Texas Rangers once had a big lead in the American League West, but now they are trying to fight off the Houston Astros. That will probably lead to a deal before the trade deadline. And that is why they are happy to have part-throwing right-hander Yu Darvish back from elbow surgery. On Wednesday night he may be cleared to reach the 100-pitch mark as he faces off against the Oakland Athletics in the conclusion of their three-game series, beginning at 8:05 PM ET at Globe Life Park in Arlington. BetAnySports customers will have the opportunity, even if the first pitch is thrown, to continue with the action, as they partake in Live Betting Ultra, which offers real-time wagering against the baseball betting odds.

Darvin (2-2, 3.12 ERA) missed the entire 2015 season as he had undergone Tommy John surgery. He was good enough to be second in the American League Cy Young award voting in 2013, and he is renowned for his ability to strike out hitters. In fact, he led all of baseball in that category in 2013. There was some concern about how hard he would throw when he came back, but he is dispelling all of that, as he has averaged more than a strikeout per inning, and in fact has fanned 20 batters in his last 10 1/3 frames. Is he throwing TOO hard? Well, he is not sacrificing strikeouts for the sake of his pitch count, and that is probably a pretty good sign.

Sean Manaea, the left-handed rookie, gets the start for Oakland. His overall record is not great (3-5, 4.61 ERA), but he has been a new man since coming off the disabled list, putting together excellent back-to-back performances against the Houston Astros and Tampa Bay Rays, going 15 innings, giving up 10 hits and holding both of those teams scoreless. What's even more encouraging is that Manaea didn't walk anybody in either of those two starts. The key for him is throwing his change of pace a lot more.

In the baseball odds that have been posted on this game by the people at BetAnySports, Texas is the favorite at home:

Oakland Athletics (Manaea – L) +155
Texas Rangers (Darvish – R) -165

Over 9 Runs -110
Under 9 Runs -110

Athletics +1.5 Runs -145
Rangers -1.5 Runs +125

Oakland has a 46-55 record, which has them 12 games behind the pace of the Rangers in the American League West, and they are 10.5 games out of the second wild-card spot, which is currently held by the Boston Red Sox. But they have won four of their last five games, so they have to be dealt with seriously. And the presence of Manaea, as a pitcher who has been transformed a bit in his rookie season, is something to watch.

It is also important to take into consideration that Oakland has the second-fewest strikeouts in the majors (676), so they might not be as easy for Darvish to fan as most teams.

It looks like under the circumstances, these bullpens are not to be trusted all whole lot. Texas relief pitching has compiled just a 5.58 ERA at home, while the Oakland bullpen has a 5.03 ERA on the road. This will be a factor in the late innings.

Darvish gets off to very quick starts; the opposition has hit just .167 against him in each of the first two innings of his appearances. He hopes to get some more support in this game from Joey Gallo, the power-hitting call-up from Triple-A ball. Gallo strikes out a lot but he also gets a lot of home runs, and yesterday he hammered one 448 feet into the seats.

The Rangers are 58-43 and 3.5 games ahead of the Houston Astros in the division. At home they are 30-16. And if their pitching gets a boost, they are a genuine World Series contender.

Customers at BetAnySports have the opportunity to get reduced juice wagering so that they can attack the baseball odds and get a lot more value in the process. Also, Live Betting Ultra offers the chance to continue the action even after the first picth is thrown...... Remember that there are a lot of creative payment options, including the virtual currency of Bitcoin!


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