The Miami Marlins and Texas Rangers are set to start a three-game series in Arlington on Friday. The Marlins are coming off a loss on Thursday to the Phillies. The loss sent them to 58-52 and 1.5 games behind second-place Philadelphia in their division. The Marlins start a road trip with a 24-28 road record.
Texas won their game Thursday over the White Sox. The Rangers are 62-46 on the season and in first place in the American League West. The Rangers have been outstanding at home this season, with 36 wins in 56 games.
The Texas Rangers are favorites in this game at home. The Rangers are listed at -125, while the Marlins are at +105. The total for this game on Friday is set at eight runs.
Home Rangers Ready to Rock
Jordan Montgomery is going to make the start for the Texas Rangers. The 30-year-old will make his first start with his new team. He was 6-9 for the Cardinals and had a 3.42 earned run average.
Montgomery had 108 strikeouts on the season and had thrown 121 innings. Montgomery’s final start with the Cardinals was on July 28th against the Cubs, where he allowed just three runs in 6 innings.
Montgomery will look to add to a rotation that has been pretty solid. Despite losing Jacob DeGrom early in the season, the Rangers still rank 9th in quality starts with 45. Texas also has a team earned run average of 4.16 on the season, and opponents are hitting just .242 against them.
Offensively is where the Rangers are making hay. The Rangers lead all of Major League Baseball in runs scored, batting average, and on-base percentage. The top Rangers threats have been Nathaniel Lowe, with his .285 average, along with Adolis Garcia, and 26 bombs with 86 runs batted in.
Luzardo Throwing for Marlins
The Miami Marlins are going to send out a lefthander as well. 25-year-old Jesus Luzardo has had a good season for Miami. But, recently, he has seen some rocky starts. His last outing lasted just 4.2 innings, allowing seven hits and four runs, while his start on July 17th was just four innings against the Cardinals.
The Marlins are looking to catch fire like they did in the first half of the season. The second half for Miami has not been kind. The Marlins have gone 5-13 during the second half of the season. During the Marlins’ recent eight-game losing streak, they scored just a total of 25 runs in those eight games.
After this series at Texas, the Marlins do not find things to get any easier. Miami will go to first-place Cincinnati before coming back home to host the Yankees for three and Astros for three. After that, Miami goes to the Dodgers and Padres for a week.
Rangers Smack Marlins
The Texas Rangers are going to score and score often. Getting back home, a place they love to hit is going to help here.
Luzardo has had a good season, but look for him to have a tough time getting through this Rangers lineup. Texas scores a bunch for their new starting pitcher and wins this game.
Bet the Texas Rangers -125 over the Miami Marlins, and add the over eight runs for this game as well.
