Cincinnati Reds vs Texas Rangers

Cincinnati is a .500 road team with a pitching staff that is 14th in ERA (3.87) and 17th in WHIP, along with a defense that is 17th in fielding percentage. The Reds have lost all five of Hunter Greene's (4.55 ERA) starts. The offense has scored just one run over the last two games and Cincinnati is 1-17 on the road after batting .200 or worse over a five-game stretch. The Texas offense is 11th in runs scored and slugging, plus 12th in on-base percentage, while the defense is fifth in fielding percentage. Texas plays its fifth consecutive home contest and has Michael Lorenzen (2.45 ERA) on the mound. With the Rangers 41-26 against teams with a bullpen WHIP of 1.250 or better, back home field. Play Texas as a Max Play. 

The Texas Rangers bought and traded their way up into an elite team a year ago and it paid dividends as the Rangers went on to win the World Series. Things have not come as easy for the Rangers this season as they stand a pedestrian 13-13 on the season. The Rangers have lost all three of Nathan Eovaldi's last three starts, but the bigger picture earns consideration here as Eovaldi is 32-16 in his last 48 starts. Graham Ashcraft has on his last three decisions, but once again he looks at the bigger picture where he is 14-1 in his last 35 decisions. I will go wwith Texas in this one.

Texas blew a 5-1 lead and lost 7-6 on Monday to the Reds, but the Rangers still are atop the AL West with a 14-8 record and they have won six of their past eight games. Cincinnati had lost six in a row before last night's win and the Reds are in last place in the NL Central with a 8-15 record. Martin Perez gets the start for Texas, which has won three of his four starts this season, and Perez has allowed eight earned runs in 21 1/3 innings. The Rangers bullpen is tied for the major league lead with a 1.07 WHIP and second with a 2.77 ERA. Luke Weaver has made one appearance this season and gave up four runs on six hits in six innings. The Reds are 6-22 their past 28 games after scoring at least five runs their previous game, and 18-46 in the second game of a series, and they have lost 35 of their past 51 games overall. Take the Rangers as a Max Play.