Detroit Tigers (31-27) at Texas Rangers (34-26) Preview Game 1

The Rangers are back at home tonight after sweeping the Cleveland Indians in a four-game set in Cleveland. If you didn’t watch last night’s game, be sure to check out our full recap. Texas is hosting the Detroit Tigers for three games and will look to add to their current winning streak of five games.

The Rangers have now taken eight of their last 10 while the Tigers have lost four of their last 10. They currently still remain 2.5 games ahead in the AL West.

Pitching Matchups

The Rangers will start with RHP Colby Lewis on the mound tonight. Lewis is 5-5 and holds a 3.48 ERA with 55 strikeouts. The 31-year-old got the win his last time out as he pitched eight innings against Tampa Bay holding the Rays to no runs on four hits. His prior outing wasn’t of quality as he allowed six runs on seven hits in six innings against Kansas City; however, he didn’t receive a decision. Overall, though, the right-hander is pitching decently well this year and will look to continue his success tonight against the Tigers as he did against the Rays.

Last year, Lewis went 2-1 with an ERA of 4.66 against the Tigers, which were all of his three starts in his career, allowing 10 ER over 20.1 pitched innings. Two of those starts were at home in which he went 2-0 with an ERA of 4.38 allowing six earned runs in 12.1 innings.

The Tigers will counter with RHP Max Scherzer. He is 6-2 with a 4.38 ERA and has 68 strikeouts. The 26-year-old didn’t receive a decision his last time out when he allowed seven runs on nine hits over 6.2 innings against Minnesota. His previous two outings, he is combined for allowing 10 runs on 14 hits over just 7.2 innings – both of which he received the loss – against Boston and Pittsburgh. He started the season off very well but seems to have been struggling as of late; however, he was able to find the strike zone against the Twins as he was unable to against the Red Sox.

Pitchers vs. Hitters

RHP Colby Lewis: Austin Jackson and Brennan Boesch each have 10 at-bats against Lewis but only Austin has gotten a hit off him – five to be exact – including one double and one homer. He also has one walk, one RBI and two strikeouts while Brandon has four strikeouts. Ryan Raburn is 2-for-3 with three RBIs and Miguel Cabrera is 2-for-6 with two RBIs and two walks. Ramon Santiago is 3-for-6 with one RBI and one strikeout while Don Kelly and Alex Avilla are combined for 2-for-12.

RHP Max Scherzer: I can’t sayt he Rangers have exactly fared well against this righty. Michael Young is 4-for-11 with one double, two triples and three strikeouts. David Murphy has four strikeouts, the highest of the Rangers against Max, and is 2 for-11 with one RBI and one walk as well. Ian Kinsler and Nelson Cruz are a combined 4-for-17 with two RBIs and four strikeouts – splitting those down the middle between the two. Adrian Beltre is 2-for-8 with three strikeouts and Mike Napoli is 0-for-3 with one strikeout.

My Prediction

When looking at sports betting lines, you will see that most sportsbooks are in favor of the Rangers winning tonight…and well, I just can’t seem to disagree! 5-1.