Both the Rangers and Blue Jays will be looking to pick up a win in tonight's AL matchup, as this one is getting started at 7:07 PM ET from the Rogers Centre in Toronto. The Rangers are currently on a five-game winning streak, and their record of 51-52 has them 3rd in the AL West. The Blue Jays are favored at -126 on the money line, and they are 5th in the AL East with an overall record of 46-56.
Friday night's pitching matchup is Andrew Heaney for the Rangers and Yusei Kikuchi for the Blue Jays. The over/under line is currently at 8 runs, and APLTV will be televising this one.
Texas vs. Toronto Matchup At A Glance
- Teams: Rangers at Blue Jays
- Where: Rogers Centre Toronto
- Date: Friday, July 26th
- Betting Odds TOR -126 | TEX +106 O/U 8
Rangers Preview
The Rangers's offense was hot right out of the gates in their most recent game vs. the White Sox, closing out their series with a 2-1 win. After allowing one run to the White Sox in the top of the 3rd, the Rangers responded with a run of their own. Texas went on to add another run in the 4th inning, closing out the scoring. Heading into the game, the Rangers were at -258 on the money line.
Max Scherzer put together a good start for the Rangers, going six innings and giving up just one earned run, and picking up the win. He also issued just one walk and struck out nine White Sox batters. The Rangers's offense was carried by Marcus Semien, who went json>2/4 with a homer and a run scored.
After winning five in a row, the Rangers are 51-52 overall and 3rd in the AL West, 2.5 games behind the Astros. They have won two straight series on the road and are 33-23 when favored this season. As underdogs, they are 18-29.
On the run line, the Rangers are 45-58, including 22-29 on the road. The over/under record for Texas games is 41-58, and when the total has been set at 8 runs, the O/U record is 6-12-2.
Left-hander Andrew Heaney gets the start for the Rangers today as he faces the Blue Jays on the road. He has made 19 starts this season and has a record of 4-10 with a 3.60 ERA. Looking at his overall numbers, Heaney has a WHIP of 1.24 and has turned in five quality starts. In his last outing, Heaney picked up the win, going five innings and not allowing a run against the Orioles. Before that, he had given up at least two earned runs in three straight outings. Per nine innings, Heaney is averaging 9.09 strikeouts and 2.61 walks.
Over the past eight games, Marcus Semien has been swinging the bat well for the Rangers, going 9/28 with two homers. Semien is also the team's top home run hitter for the season, with 15 homers. Corey Seager has also been a solid power threat for the Rangers, as he has gone deep 19 times while batting .270. Adolis Garcia is also near the top of the home run leaderboard, but he is hitting just .209 for the season.
As a team, the Rangers are 17th in scoring at 4.3 runs per game. They are batting a collective .240, which is 14th in the league. Texas is also 15th in home runs this season. Currently, they have three players with at least 49 RBIs.
Blue Jays Preview
The Blue Jays will be looking to get back on track after closing out their series vs. the Rays with a 13-0 loss. Toronto was actually the slight favorite on the money line going into the game but fell behind big early, as the Rays scored seven times in the third.
Offensively, the Blue Jays only had two fewer hits than the Rays but didn't score a run. Both of their hits were singles and came in the 2nd inning. Chris Bassitt got the start for the Blue Jays and took the loss. He only lasted five innings, giving up three earned runs, and took the loss.
As the Blue Jays host the Rangers today, they are 20-17 straight up as the home favorite this season. Overall, Toronto is 46-56 and they have lost two of three games in their last series vs. the Rays. The Blue Jays are 31-24 straight up when favored this year, but they are 15-32 as the underdog.
Against the run line, the Blue Jays have been better on the road with a 32-19 record, but they have struggled at home, going 16-35. Their games have averaged 8.8 runs this season, and their over/under record is 53-46. The over has hit in two straight games for Toronto, and when the O/U line is set at 8 runs, their record is 19-10-1.
Through 21 starts, Yusei Kikuchi has a record of 4-9 and an ERA of 4.54. This season, he has turned in eight quality starts and is averaging 10.14 strikeouts per nine innings. In his last outing, Kikuchi took the loss, giving up four earned runs in five innings of work. Before that, he had gone three straight outings without giving up a home run. Kikuchi has been much better on the road, coming in with an ERA of 6.18 compared to 4.82 at home. The left-hander has a record of 2-7 at home.
After a slow start to the season, the Blue Jays offense has picked things up of late, as they have moved up to 25th in the league in runs scored. For the season, they are averaging 4 runs per game. Toronto's offense has been led by Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who is hitting .296 for the season with a team-high 18 home runs and 62 RBIs. Guerrero Jr. has been especially hot of late, going 12/26 in his last seven games with five homers and eight RBIs.
As a team, the Blue Jays are batting just .235, which is 17th in the league, and they are also near the bottom of the league in home runs. So far, they have been a better offensive team on the road, averaging 4.2 runs per game compared to 3.9 at home.
Rangers vs. Blue Jays Prediction: Rangers ML +106
With the Rangers at +106 on the money line, that is the route we recommend going for today's Rangers vs. Blue Jays matchup. We have the Rangers taking this one by a final score of 5-4, and there is some good value in getting them on the money line.
Looking at the starting pitchers, we have Yusei Kikuchi finishing with six strikeouts, which is one more than Andrew Heaney. However, we have Kikuchi finishing with the second-fewest strikeouts among all starters today.
