Baseball Betting: Rangers vs. Athletics Odds & Pick: September 21st 2009

Texas Rangers vs. Oakland Athletics u9.0 (-120 odds)
Mon September 21st 2009 10:05p
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The Under is now 15-6-1 in the last 22 head to head meetings between the Texas Rangers and the Oakland Athletics, including 10-4-1 this season with 11 of those games failing to exceed nine total runs combined.

We see no reason why tonight should be any different. The Rangers have basically fallen out of the wild card because of their inability to hit, totally changing their personality from the great hitting, poor pitching teams of the recent past. This 2009 version of the offense is averaging an anorexic 2.90 runs per game over the last 10 games with a team batting average of just .229 overall.

Things should not change tonight vs. Edgar Gonzalez and a red-hot Oakland bullpen. Gonzalez has proven to be serviceable in his two September starts, albeit in limited innings. He faced these Rangers last Tuesday and limited them to one run and four hits in four innings. This came on the heels of his first September start where he allowed one run and three hits in five innings vs. Kansas City, and once he is lifted, the Athletics bullpen has a great 1.90 ERA the last 10 games.

Now Texas starter Kevin Millwood has been hit hard lately, but the veteran still has a nice 3.94 ERA on the season and the Athletics should be the perfect remedy for him to get back on track. This is because he has now allowed two earned runs or less in each of his five starts vs. Oakland since the beginning of last season, with two of those starts coming this year.

Finally, Texas has the best Under record in the Major Leagues at 90-50-8, 64.3 percent, and given the recent head-to-head history here and the spacious dimensions of McAfee Coliseum, we look for that amazing Under pattern to continue.

MLB Free Pick: Rangers, Athletics Under 9 (-120)