Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports/Sipa USA

Texas Rangers vs St. Louis Cardinals: Can the Rangers bounce back?

The Texas Rangers are visiting the St. Louis Cardinals today and Busch Stadium.

The Rangers are struggling on the road

The Texas Rangers are third in the AL West with a 52-56 record, including 23-33 on the road. They have lost 4 of the last 5 games and were swept by the Toronto Blue Jays before going to St. Louis. Texas has a 4.08 ERA, a .230 batting average, a .308 on-base percentage, and 1.28 walks plus hits per inning pitched. Marcus Semien leads the team with 105 hits and 71 runs while Corey Seager is on top with 19 home runs.

The Cardinals are in a good spot

The St. Louis Cardinals are second in the NL Central with a 55-52 record and 28-25 at home. They lost 4 of the last 6 games and are coming off an 8-1 win last night against the Rangers. The Cardinals have a 4.13 ERA, a .249 batting average, a .312 on-base percentage, and 1.28 walks plus hits per inning pitched. Brendan Donovan leads the team with 103 hits, Paul Goldschmidt is on top with 52 runs and Nolan Gorman has 19 home runs.

Betting Trends

The Cardinals are 2-4 SU in their last 6 games overall, 1-7 SU in their last 8 home games against the Rangers and 1-6 SU in their last 7 games played on Wednesday. St. Louis has played over the total run line in 4 of their last 5 games overall, in 7 of their last 8 home games and in 6 of their last 7 games against teams from the AL. The Rangers are 1-4 SU in their last 5 games overall, 11-3 SU in their last 14 games against the Cardinals, 7-1 SU in their last 8 visits to St. Louis and 2-6 SU in their last 8 games against teams from the NL. Texas has played over the total run line in their last 5 games overall, in 5 of the last 6 games on the road and in 5 of their last 7 games against teams from the NL Central.

Prediction and Conclusion

The Cardinals and the Rangers split the first two games of the series, as Texas won the opener by 6-3 and St. Louis responded with an 8-1 win. Both teams are hanging on in their respective divisions and need to go for a winning streak in order to get close to the top. The Cardinals will try to do that with Michael McGreevy, who will make his MLB debut tonight. The Rangers will go with Andrew Heaney, who is 4-10 for the season with a 3.77 ERA, 105 K, 105 IP, and 1.26 WHIP. Both teams have been going over the total run line lately, just as in the first two games of the series. Given the current form and the starting pitchers, we are going the same way tonight, with the total run line set at 9 runs.