The Texas Rangers (46-28) and New York Yankees (41-34) will open a 3-game series on Friday night at Yankee Stadium. First pitch will be at 7:05 p.m. ET from the Bronx.
Season series: Rangers lead 3-1
The Rangers took 2 of 3 games from the Chicago White Sox in their most recent series after going 2-1 against the Toronto Blue Jays and winning 4 of their last 5 has given them a 5 1/2-game lead in the AL West. They lead MLB with 451 runs scored this season and despite being without SP Jacob deGrom they own the 7th-best ERA (3.79).
After getting swept by the Boston Red Sox the Yankees bounced back by taking 2 of 3 from the Seattle Mariners. They’re still 9 1/2 games back in the AL East but they’re hanging around thanks to some strong pitching (6th-best ERA at 3.76).
Texas Rangers at New York Yankees projected starters
RHP Dane Dunning vs. RHP Clarke Schmidt
Dunning (6-1 2.78 ERA) makes his 9th start. He has a 1.19 WHIP 2.6 BB/9 and 5.4 K/9 in 64 2/3 innings.
- Has pitched at least 5 innings in his 8 starts this season allowing more than 3 ER just once
- Last start: Win 6 IP 6 H 2 ER 1 BB 3 K in 4-2 victory over the Blue Jays on Saturday
Schmidt (2-6 4.65 ERA) makes his 16th start. He has a 1.42 WHIP 2.8 BB/9 and 9.2 K/9 in 71 2/3 innings.
- Has a 3.38 ERA in June allowing 6 ER in 16 IP
- Yankees are 0-5 in his last 5 starts and 4-11 overall
Rangers at Yankees odds
- Moneyline (ML): Rangers -115 (bet $115 to win $100) | Yankees -105 (bet $105 to win $100)
- Run line (RL)/Against the spread (ATS): Rangers -1.5 (+145) | Yankees +1.5 (-175)
- Over/Under (O/U): 8.5 (O: -115 | U: -105)
Rangers at Yankees picks and predictions
Prediction
Rangers 6 Yankees 3
Moneyline
The Rangers have been good on the road this season (22-15) and just won 2 of their 3 games in Chicago last series and I expect that sort of success to continue with Dunning on the hill. They’re a solid value at -115 to beat the Yankees outright BET RANGERS (-115).
Run line/Against the spread
The Rangers have been winning games convincingly as of late which is no surprise given their league-leading offense. Each of their last 7 wins have been by at least 2 runs with their last 3 wins coming by a total of 10 runs. The Yankees haven’t exactly kept games close with each of their last 4 losses coming by at least 3 runs – including losses by 8 and 10 runs.
BET RANGERS -1.5 (+145).
Over/Under
The Rangers could do most of the heavy lifting themselves Friday with Schmidt on the mound. Texas has scored at least 5 runs in each of their last 4 games including an 11-run outburst against the Blue Jays.
The Yankees haven’t scored more than 4 runs in any of their last 4 games but they may not need to plate many against the hot-hitting Rangers for this bet to cash.
BET OVER 8.5 (-115).