The Texas Rangers and the Miami Marlins meet in MLB action from LoanDepot Park on Thursday.

The Texas Rangers will come into this one looking to start the second half of the season on a high-note after dropping their last three games prior to the all-star break. Nate Lowe has 86 hits and a .270 batting average with 13 doubles while Adolis Garcia has 15 home runs and 51 RBIs. Corey Seager also has team-highs of 87 hits, 22 homers and 52 RBIs and Brad Miller has 29 RBIs while Marcus Semien has 15 doubles, 13 home runs and 43 RBIs and the aforementioned Garcia has 81 hits and 16 doubles as well on the year. Jon Gray will start here and is 6-4 with a 3.71 ERA and 100 strikeouts this season.

The Miami Marlins will also be hoping to turn things around after a disappointing showing in their last series against Philadelphia prior to the all-star break. Jesus Sanchez has 54 hits along with 3 triples, 11 home runs, 30 RBIs and a .201 batting average. Jazz Chisholm Jr. has 10 doubles and 4 triples as well as 14 home runs and 45 RBIs as well this season. Jorge Soler has 13 doubles with 13 home runs of his own and Garrett Cooper has 82 hits, a .283 batting average and 21 doubles while Jesus Aguilar also has 79 hits of his own this season. Pablo Lopez will start here and is 6-4 with a 2.86 ERA and 101 strikeouts this season.

Texas is 23-10 in their last 33 games against the NL East and 2-5 in their last 7 games against a team with a losing record while the over is 4-0 in their last 4 series-opening games. Miami is 13-3 in their last 16 games against a team with a losing record and 6-21 in their last 27 interleague games while the under is 5-1-1 in their last 7 games against a team with a losing record.

I get the reasoning for backing either side in this one, but I think the better play here is the over. This is a low total and while I could totally see this being a low-scoring battle, the reality is that Jon Gray’s been hittable on the road with an ERA over four this season and Pablo Lopez, while he does have a 2.35 ERA at home this season, has had the bulk of his starts end up being high-scoring games if you look at his last five outings. I think this is a 4-3 or 5-4 kind of game, so give me the over here.