Wednesday features an interleague battle as the St. Louis Cardinals (25-37) take on the Texas Rangers (40-20). The Rangers will host this one at Globe Life Field, with first pitch scheduled for 8:05 pm ET.
After the Rangers took the first two games of this series, they will be looking for a sweep in this one. In Tuesday’s matchup, the Rangers downed St. Louis 6-4. In the win, Adolis Garcia went four for four with his 15th home run of the season.
The Rangers are again the favorites in the finale as they play at home. They are -134 to win, while the Cardinals’ moneyline sits at +114. The runline features St. Louis +1.5 (-164), and the over/under for total runs is nine (-110).
St. Louis Hopes To Break Funk
At 25-37, the St. Louis Cardinals not only have the worst record in the NL Central, they have the worst record in the entire National League. Not only are they 2-8 in their last 10 games, but they are 13-21 on the road this year. They will look to break out of their funk and salvage the finale on Wednesday.
Taking the mound for the Cardinals will be righty Jack Flaherty. In 12 games, the 27-year-old is 3-4 with a 4.55 ERA, 1.52 WHIP, and he has 64 strikeouts in 63.1 innings. Despite no-decisions in his last three starts, Flaherty has only allowed five earned runs in a combined 17 innings of work (two earned runs in his last 12.1 innings).
On offense, the Cardinals currently rank 10th in scoring, averaging 4.67 runs per game (3.97 on the road). Leading the offense is Nolan Gorman. In 190 at bats, he is hitting .268/.353/.542 with a team-leading 14 home runs and 44 runs batted in.
Against Jon Gray, keep an eye on Paul DeJong. In six at bats, he is hitting .333 with a home run and two runs batted in.
Rangers Cruising In The First Half Of Season
The Texas Rangers are out to an absolutely electric start this season and don’t show signs of slowing down. They are 8-2 in their last 10 games and they have a fantastic 21-8 record at Globe Life Field this year. They will try to add to that win total on Wednesday.
The Rangers have been elite on the offensive side this season. They currently rank tops in the majors in scoring, averaging 6.44 runs per game (7.04 at home).
Outfielder Adolis Garcia has really shined this season. In 227 at bats, he is hitting .273/.331/.515 with a team-leading 15 home runs and 52 runs batted in.
Marcus Semien has also had a great year. He is hitting .304/.372/.504 with nine home runs, 50 runs batted in, and a team-leading 55 runs scored. Semien has also homered off of Flaherty in his career.
Jon Gray will take the ball for the Rangers in the finale. In 11 games, he is 6-1 with a 2.51 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, and he has 51 strikeouts in 64.2 innings. He has won three in a row, allowing two earned runs in 19 innings of work.
Take The Rangers To Win At Home
For as good as the Cardinals look on paper, they have just been a trainwreck to start the year. On the flip side, the Rangers have been one of the hottest teams on the planet, especially at home.
Until St. Louis shows they can get things turned around, the Rangers are the obvious play in this one.
Take Texas to finish the sweep and win straight up at home at -134.
