Texas Rangers (14-8) vs. Cincinnati Reds (8-15)
April 25, 2023 6:40 pm EDT
The Line: Cincinnati Reds -111 / Texas Rangers -111; Over/Under: +9.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Texas Rangers and the Cincinnati Reds meet Tuesday in MLB action from Great American Ball Park. This will be the second installment in a three-game series. In the Monday opener, the Reds eked out a one-run victory. Check back all season long for free MLB picks at Sports Chat Place.
Texas Rangers
Texas played the Athletics over the weekend, winning 5-4 Friday but then dropping the two weekend games. On Monday versus the Reds, the Rangers had a 5-1 lead at one point but ended up falling in a walk-off 7-6. Starter Nathan Eovaldi put up 6.0 innings, three earned, six hits and a walk.
For the starter gig in the Tuesday matchup the Rangers are going with Martin Perez. This year over four starts Perez is 3-1 with a 3.38 ERA and 19 Ks in 21.1 innings. Perez is 78-78 with a 4.42 ERA in 257 career games (227 starts).
Cincinnati Reds
Over on the Cincinnati side, they played the Pirates of the weekend and lost every outing in a four-game sweep. On Monday the Reds scored three runs across the final two innings in the comeback victory Nick Lodolo went 4.0 frames in the start with six earned, nine hits and two walks.
Luke Weaver will make the start for the Reds on Tuesday. This year in his lone start Weaver went 6.0 innings with four earned on four hits and two walks in a loss. Weaver is 24-37 with a 4.81 career ERA in 116 games (82 starts).
The Rangers are 6-14 in their last 20 in game two of a series and 38-78 in their last 116 road games versus a right-handed starter. The over is 4-1 in Texas’ last five Tuesday games.
Meanwhile, the Reds are 16-36 in the last 52 overall and 20-42 in their last 62 Tuesday games. Cincinnati is 18-46 in their last 64 in game two of a series.
ANDREW’S FREE PICK
I’ll stay with the Rangers in this one. Perez has won his last two outings, posting five combined earned runs over 10.2 innings on 13 hits and four walks. Perez should be able to handle the Reds lineup if all goes well. On Monday Texas had a couple of bad innings defensively but the good news is that they got a nice two-homer performance from Josh Jung, who had three RBI. The Rangers pitchers walked six batters and gave up eight hits; there wasn’t much Texas could do right in the later innings. Still, I think they’ll bounce back and even it up here.
