Arizona Diamondbacks (35-31) at Texas Rangers (35-32)
by Ultimatecapper.com Staff
Two teams that have recently fallen out of first place in their respective divisions meet this weekend when the Arizona Diamondbacks visit the Lone Star State to take on the Texas Rangers for a 3-game interleague shootout beginning Friday night in Arlington.
Arizona is coming off a sorry 1-9 homestand in which they were outscored 78-24. The D-Backs now sit in second place in the NL West, a game behind the division-leading Los Angeles Dodgers.
Texas just lost three of four games to the White Sox and has dropped six of its last nine overall to fall into second place in the AL West, a half-game back of the streaking Oakland A’s.
Arizona is 17-13 on the road this year, while the Rangers are just 16-19 at home.
These two teams have not played against each other since the 2000 season.
The D-Backs will send Cy Young candidate Brandon Webb (8-1, 2.06) to the mound Friday, while Texas will go with off-season acquisition Kevin Millwood (7-3, 4.54). Webb took his first loss of the season last Saturday despite allowing just one ER in 8 innings vs. the Mets. Millwood, on the other hand, owns a 7.23 ERA in his seven starts at Ameriquest Field this year.
Arizona’s Kevin Jarvis will make his first start of this season Saturday against the Rangers’ John Koronka (4-4, 5.11), and Sunday the D-Backs’ Enrique Gonzales (and his .64 WHIP in 22 IP this season) will go against Texas’ Kameron Loe (3-6, 5.57).
Arizona owns a .335 team OBP this season, 8th-best in the NL, and averages 5.0 runs per game. But the D-Backs have managed to score just 10 runs over their last five games.
The Rangers owns a .347 team OBP, 6th-best in the AL, and average 5.3 RPG.
The Arizona bullpen has been knocked around for 20 ER and 31 H+W in just its last 15 2/3 IP.
The Texas pen has allowed 7 ER and 20 H+W in its last 17 innings of work.
The over/under is 31-32 in D-Backs games this year, 28-35 in Rangers games, and a puzzling 13-18 at Ameriquest Field.
The Ultimatecapper Pick: For Friday's game we like Brandon Webb despite the worry about this team scoring runs. Anytime you can get a GREAT pitcher at GREAT odds, DO IT!
