MLB Lines – Marlins vs Rangers
While the Marlins (34-30) have loads of captivating young pieces on their club and are exceeding expectations, the Rangers (31-34) are currently the exact opposite. It is somewhere in that equation that makes this a perfect Interleague match-up.
Date/Time: Wednesday, June 11 2014, 8:05 pm EST
Venue: Globe Life Park, Arlington TX
Miami +1.5, Texas -1.5
Over/Under: 8.5
Pitching Match-up: Jacob Turner (2-3, 5.93 ERA) vs. Yu Darvish (6-2, 2.36 ERA)
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Miami is in a knife-fight at the top of NL East division in large part to unexpected but welcome contributions on the roster and the raw power of beast OF Giancarlo Stanton (.300, 17 HR, 53 RBI, .396 OBP and no signs of slowing down).
It isn’t just Stanton either – as fun as he is to watch. Third baseman Casey McGehee was an MLB afterthought and was toiling away in Japan, but he came back this season and the 31-year old has hit .306 with 39 rib-eyes. Youngster Christian Yelich is progressing at a nice pace, with the OF hitting six dongs to go with a .260 average and a tidy .341 on-base.
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It’s the contributions from Stanton, McGehee and Yelich that has the Marlins in the thick of things despite the season-ending injury to star pitcher Jose Fernandez.
On the hill, starter Henderson Alvarez has been great ever since he came over from the Toronto Blue Jays in last season’s mega-trade that saw Jose Reyes and Mark Buehrle jettisoned.
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However, on Wednesday night the Marlins roll out 23-year old Jacob Turner and he’s had some headaches in the infancy of his MLB career.
Turner is a starter that the Texas lineup can jump on, even with its hefty pile of injuries.
The Rangers haven’t gotten a full season out of veteran slugging 3B Adrian Beltre, though he is back now and starting to return to form. First baseman Prince Fielder, the centerpiece of a trade that sent two-bagger Ian Kinsler to Detroit, has been out for most of the season.
Mitch Moreland, the other 1B on the roster, is also on the 15-day DL; the situation at that spot is so dire that Texas called up Brad Snyder from Triple A Round Rock – a scrub that has played two career games at first.
On top of that, cogs in the starting rotation like Matt Harrison and Derek Holland are on the 60-day DL. Young 2B/SS hitting phenom Jurickson Profar is also down with injury.
As you can see, not much has gone right on the diamond in north Texas so far this year.
The Rangers are not completely out of it, which that alone speaks volumes given their trials and tribulations. Outfielder Alex Rios is having a great campaign and Texas will soon get some of these DL-warriors back in the lineup.
Texas is coming off an 8-5 loss to Miami yesterday, but Wednesday night sees strikeout king Yu Darvish take the mound. Without Darvish, the Rangers would surely be sunk this season. They will need to rely on him once more Wednesday night.
The good news is that he’s been dominant and reliable. He’s the type of ace pitcher that will keep Texas hovering near a .500 record and in a decent position to make a push once Moreland, Harrison, Holland and crew make their way back.
Miami is trending in the right direction and it has a lot to get excited about, but Turner doesn’t match up well against Texas’s face of the franchise.
Texas 5, Miami 1
Take the UNDER
