The Rangers have beaten the Mariners in two different ways this series, a 2-0 victory on Friday and a 16-6 blowout on Saturday. Now, the team sends out its ace to get finish off a sweep.
Nathan Eovaldi has been building Cy Young buzz this season after an injury plagued final season with the Red Sox. The Rangers ace is pitching to a 2.42 ERA while showcasing pinpoint control. He'll face a Mariners lineup that is still looking for last season's postseason form, can Eovaldi keep it rolling?
Here's our best bet for Sunday's matchup:
Mariners vs. Rangers odds, run line and total
Mariners vs. Rangers prediction and pick
The Mariners offense is going to struggle against Eovaldi. The club has been shaky at the plate all season, and it's been more of the same over the last 15 days, hitting just .224 as a group while scoring 55 runs in 13 games, 15th in the big leagues.
Eovaldi's ability to avoid self-inflicted wounds like walks (less than two per nine innings) while generating soft contact is going to make it difficult for the Mariners to get runners in scoring position.
Meanwhile, the Rangers offense has been arguably the best in baseball, leading the bigs in batting average (.276) and checks in second in wRC+, which quantifies the quality of run scoring chances. The team will face rookie Bryce Miller, who has been posting fantastic marks through his first handful of starts, but is likely going to struggle with the relentless Texas lineup.
Miller has a 3.00 ERA in six starts, but his xERA is a touch higher at 3.41 and he has benefitted from opponents hitting .227 on batted balls in play. That number is going to naturally rise and there's no better team to tag the rookie than the Rangers at the moment, who are hitting .295 as a team over the last 12 games.
I'm going to lay the run line with the Rangers with Eovaldi pitching and a rookie pitcher that will struggle in the step up in class.
Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.
