The Rangers have the biggest lead of any division in the American League with a 5-game lead over the Angels in the AL West. <\/p>\n
Venue\/ Stadium: Rangers Ballpark in Arlington, Arlington, Texas<\/strong> PITCHING MATCHUP:<\/strong>\u00a0Twins LH Scott Diamond (10-5, 2.95 ERA) vs. Rangers RH Roy Oswalt (4-2, 6.04)<\/p>\n Matchup<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Preview<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n Minnesota Twins vs. Texas Rangers Preview<\/strong><\/p>\n The Rangers have the biggest lead of any division in the American League with a 5-game lead over the Angels in the AL West. On the other side of the coin the Twins have the worst record in the AL and they have lost 8 of their last 10 games. MLB lines have the home Rangers as the huge favorites with a run total of 9.5.<\/p>\n In their last games the Rangers beat up on the Baltimore Orioles 12-3 while the Twins lost to the Oakland A’s 5-1.<\/p>\n This season the Twins have an O\/U record of 60-57 and they have a run-line W\/L record of 66-57 and the Rangers have an O\/U record of 53-67 with a run-line W\/L record of 59-64.<\/p>\n The Rangers have won 6 o their last 7 games facing the Twins.<\/p>\n Scott Diamond (10-5, 2.95 ERA) goes for the Twins tonight and in his last outing he did not get much run support only giving up 2 earned runs in 6 innings in a no decision facing the Mariners. Roy Oswalt (4-2, 6.04 ERA) gets the nod for the Rangers and he also got a no decision in his last outing giving up 1 earned run in 4 innings against the Blue Jays.\u00a0[dfads params=’groups=10&limit=1&return_javascript=0′]<\/p>\n Oswalt has been far from consistent in his starts for the Rangers this season posting a solid ERA of 1.54 in 4 starts and 12.38 in 3 starts.<\/p>\n Minnesota has lost 11 of their last 13 games and in their last 6 losses their offense has really struggled batting .180.<\/p>\n Diamond leads the Twins in wins and ERA and he may really want to pitch around Adrian Beltre, as the All Star went deep 3 times in yesterday’s game against the Orioles and has hit safely in every game against the Twins this season hitting over .400 facing them.<\/p>\n Diamond has his work cut out for him in this away game facing a Rangers’ offense that has scored the most runs in the Majors and has the highest team batting average.<\/p>\n In some betting trends for this AL match up the Twins 1-6 in their last 7 road games, 5-1 in Diamond’s last 6 starts during game 1 of a series, and they have an Under record of 4-1 in their last 5 games.<\/p>\n The Rangers are 4-1 in their last 5 games, 5-2 in Oswalt’s last 7 starts, and they have an Under record of 16-6 in their last 22 home games.<\/p>\n
\nTime\/Date: 8:05 PM EST Thursday, August 23, 2012<\/strong>
\nMLB Odds From: Bovada<\/a><\/strong>
\nMoneyline: Twins +170 \/ Rangers -200 <\/strong>
\nOver\/Under:\u00a0 9.5 runs<\/strong><\/p>\n