Baseball Betting: Twins vs. Rangers Odds & Predictions: July 17th 2009

Minnesota Twins vs. Texas Rangers u10.5 (100) - Fri July 17th 2009 8:05p
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Glen Perkins saw his streak of four straight quality starts get snapped his last time out. On 10 days rest after being scratched for his start vs. NY with the flu, the lefty came out rusty and the division rival White Sox made him pay dearly. He lasted just 4.1 innings against the Palehose and allowed five ER’s on eight hits before getting the early hook. Still, the lefty is 2-1 with a 3.44 ERA his L/3 starts, and his club has fared well with him toeing the visiting bump as they’ve won each of his L/2 starts. Perkins won both of his career starts against the Rangers last season limiting them to just nine hits and three-runs combined, but this will be the first time he stares back at them in Arlington.

For a guy that was put on waivers after his start in the Bronx, Padilla has rebounded nicely leading the Rangers to victories in four of his L/6 starts. He comes into his 16th start of the season 7-4 overall with a 4.53 ERA & 1.51 WHIP with a K/BB ratio of 49/39 through 89.1 total innings of work. For some reason, he’s been flat in his home starts this year going 3-3 with a bloated 5.93 ERA; Texas has dropped each of his L/2 home outings. He bounced back from a poor home start against the Angels his last time out by taking it to Scioscia’s club in Anaheim by tossing six innings of one-run ball in the Rangers 8-1 road win. Texas won all three of his starts against the Twins in ‘08, which included a 10-0 shellacking in this venue.

Minnesota and surprisingly Texas have been two of the better ‘under’ teams all season long. Both Perkins and Padilla have solid numbers against both lineups. The Twins are 11-28 to the ‘under’ as a visitor this season, while Texas has played to the low side of the ‘total’ in 21 of 30 games vs. lefthanders and in 27 of their 43 home games. Even though this was a high scoring series a year ago, look for both pitching staffs to hold the upper hand in round one of the series.