Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports/Sipa USA

Tampa Bay Rays vs Texas Rangers: Both teams are struggling to meet the expectations

The Texas Rangers will try at to add another win when they host the Tampa Bay Rays today at Globe Life Field.

The Rays are better on the road than at home

The Tampa Bay Rays are fourth in the AL East with a 44-44 record and 21-19 on the road. They have won three of the last five games and came into this series after a 2-1 series win against the Kansas City Royals. Tampa Bay has a 4.28 ERA, a .242 batting average, a .307 on-base percentage, and 1.25 walks plus hits per inning pitched. Yandy Diaz leads the team with 92 hits, Jose Caballero is on top with 37 runs, and Isaac Paredes has 17 home runs.

The Rangers are struggling lately

The Texas Rangers are third in the AL West with a 40-48 record, including 22-21 at home. Losing back-to-back games to the San Diego Padres, the Rangers won 3-0 in the opener against the Rays. Texas has a 4.08 ERA, a .229 batting average, a .311 on-base percentage, and 1.27 walks plus hits per inning pitched. Marcus Semien leads the team with 82 hits and 54 runs while Adolis Garcia is on top with 16 home runs.

Betting Trends

The Rangers are 3-8 SU in their last 11 games overall, 15-5 SU in their last 20 games against teams from the AL East and 2-5 SU in their last 7 games played in July. Texas has played under the total run line in 7 of their last 9 games against the Rays. Their last 7 home games against them and 5 of their last 6 games at home. The Rays are 10-5 SU in their last 15 games overall, 1-8 SU in their last 9 games against Texas, 6-3 SU in their last 9 games against teams from the AL and 4-2 SU in their last 6 games against teams from the AL West. Tampa Bay has played under the total run line in 4 of their last 5 games overall and 5 of their last 6 games on the road.

Prediction and Conclusion

The defending champion Texas Rangers are struggling this season, but they are still only 8 games behind the Seattle Mariners, who lead the division. The Rangers opened the series against the Rays with a routine 3-0 win, scoring all three runs in the fourth. They have won nine of the last 10 games against the Rays and allowed more than one inning in only two of their last seven head-to-head games. The Rangers will keep that winning streak alive even though they will go with Andrew Heaney on the mound, who is only 3-9 for the season with a 4.04 ERA, 85 K, 84.2 IP, and 1.26 WHIP. The Rays will start Taj Bradley, who is 3-4 for the season with a 3.42 ERA, 72 K, 55.1 IP, and 1.12 WHIP.