Joe Saunders faces his demons on the mound in Arlington tonight, and the demons will prevail. Take the Texas Rangers at home on Tuesday against the Angels.
The Los Angeles Angels (42-32) are on a 6-0 run and look to make it a seven-game run tonight against the Texas Rangers (40-35) at the Ballpark in Arlington.
The Angels will be sending Joe Saunders to the hill who is 0-4 with a 10.29 ERA in Arlington in his career. He pitched here earlier this season allowing seven earned runs in just 5.1 innings. Saunders has produced just one quality start in four on the road lately and has a 4.57 ERA on the highway this season overall, vs. a 2.95 ERA pitching at home.
The Rangers counter with Scott Feldman on the mound tonight. He pitched six scoreless innings in a no-decision game earlier this season vs. the Angels. In his last start on June 25, he pitched six quality innings against Arizona allowing three earned runs and four hits to grab the victory. Feldman has been decent at home this season with a 3.82 ERA, and in his last home start he pitched five shutout innings against the Dodgers, giving up just three hits.
Texas has won three of the four meetings between the two teams this season and five of the last seven overall. Their bullpen has a 2.25 ERA in their last 10 games and seems to be getting a grip on things. Considering how shaky the Angels bullpen has been this season gives us confidence when both starts are done for the evening.
The Rangers are 7-1 in Feldman's last eight starts following a quality start. We can expect him to continue pitching solid tonight and look for Saunders' woes to continue in Arlington. We'll back the Rangers laying the short chalk tonight to even things up.
Free Pick: Rangers -115