The Detroit Tigers (33-43) open a 7-game road trip Monday with the first of 4 games against the Texas Rangers (47-30). First pitch from Globe Life Field is 8:05 p.m. ET. Let’s analyze BetMGM Sportsbook’s lines around the Tigers vs. Rangers odds and make our expert MLB picks and predictions for the best bets.
Season series: Rangers lead 2-1
The Tigers have won 6 of their last 10 games but lost 2 of 3 games at home to the Minnesota Twins over the weekend including a 6-3 defeat on Sunday. Detroit is 5 1/2 games back of the division-leading Twins in the AL Central.
The Rangers have won 5 of their last 8 outings but lost the final 2 games of their 3-game road series against the New York Yankees falling 1-0 Saturday and 5-3 Sunday. Texas has a 5 1/2 game buffer over the Houston Astros atop the AL West.
Tigers at Rangers projected starters
LHP Matthew Boyd vs. LHP Andrew Heaney
Boyd (5-5 5.37 ERA) makes his 15th start. He has a 1.32 WHIP 3.2 BB/9 and 9.1 K/9 through 70 1/3 IP.
- Last start: Win 6 IP 2 ER 6 H 0 BB 7 K in 9-4 home win over Kansas City Royals Wednesday
- Last start vs. Rangers on May 29: Loss 6 IP 5 ER 5 H 4 BB 5 K in 5-0 home loss
Heaney (5-4 3.98 ERA) makes his 15th start. He has a 1.29 WHIP 3.9 BB/9 and 9.5 K/9 through 72 1/3 IP.
- Last start: Win 5 2/3 IP 2 ER 5 H 0 BB 6 K in 5-2 road win over Chicago White Sox
- Allowed 2 or fewer runs in 5 of last 7 starts
Tigers at Rangers odds
Provided by BetMGM SportsbookUSA TODAY Sports Scores and Sports Betting Odds hub Lines last updated at 11:05 a.m. ET.
- Moneyline (ML): Tigers +165 (bet $100 to win $165) | Rangers -200 (bet $200 to win $100)
- Run line (RL)/Against the spread (ATS): Tigers +1.5 (-115) | Rangers -1.5 (-105)
- Over/Under (O/U): 9 (O: -105 | U: -115)
Tigers at Rangers picks and predictions
Prediction
Rangers 5 Tigers 3
Moneyline
The Tigers despite winning 6 of their last 10 games overall and 3 out of their last 4 road games are 15-22 away from home. They also lost 6 straight road games before winning 3 of 4 from the Twins last time they were on the road from June 15-18.
The Rangers are 24-13 at home but while I expect a Texas (-200) win the risk isn’t worth the reward.
PASS.
Run line/Against the spread
The Rangers are 48-29 ATS overall this season the 2nd-best mark in the majors. Their last 8 wins and 15 of their last 16 have been by at least 2 runs.
Seven of the Tigers’ last 9 losses have been by 2 or more runs. They are 40-36 ATS overall.
BET RANGERS -1.5 (-105).
Over/Under
The Rangers’ last 3 games and 7 of their last 10 have had totals of 8 or fewer runs.
Two of the 3 games in their series in Detroit in May had fewer than 9 total runs.
BET UNDER 9 (-115).
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