The Texas Rangers and the Cincinnati Reds meet Wednesday in MLB action from Great American Ball Park. This will be the finale in a three-game series. The Reds eked out a win in the opener, then on Tuesday Cincinnati took another close victory. Check back all season long for free MLB picks at Sports Chat Place.
Texas Rangers
The Rangers had a 5-1 lead at one point in the Monday opener of this series, and later blew a 6-4 lead for a 7-6 loss. In game two Texas gave up another big lead (this time 6-0) in another 7-6 defeat. Starter Martin Perez put up 6.1 innings with one earned on six hits and a walk.
For the starter gig in the Wednesday matchup, the Rangers will send out Jon Gray. In four starts this year Gray is 1-1 with a 3.72 ERA and 15 Ks in 19.1 innings. Gray is 61-57 with a 4.49 career ERA in 180 games (179 starts).
Cincinnati Reds
Over on the Cincinnati side, they scored three runs in the third and three more in the final two innings in the Monday opener win. On Tuesday the Reds scored six runs in the eighth inning alone during another big comeback. Luke Weaver put up 5.2 innings in the start with six earned, eight hits and two walks.
It’ll be Graham Ashcraft in the starting role for the Reds on Wednesday. In his four starts so far Ashcraft is 2-0 with a 1.88 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 24.0 innings. Ashcroft has a 7-6 career record with a 4.33 ERA in 23 starts.
The Rangers are 7-1 in their last eight in game three of a series and 12-28 in their last 40 Wednesday games. The over is 4-1 in Texas’ last five in game three of a series.
Meanwhile, the Reds are 16-35 in their last 51 overall and 16-35 in their last 51 Wednesday games. Cincinnati is 3-9 in their last 12 in game three of a series.
ANDREW’S FREE PICK
I’ll stick with the Reds in this one. We should have a pretty fun starter matchup here however, and a close game. Ashcroft has given up just four earned runs over his last 17.0 innings, and Gray is coming off a decent outing (5.1 innings; three earned; five walks) against Oakland. In Tuesday’s game, the Reds couldn’t get much going until late and we had another rough outing from the Rangers bullpen. Texas needs a much better showing in this finale in order to carry some momentum into the next series. I think they’ll get it in a relatively lower-scoring game and another close Reds win.