The Texas Rangers will host the New York Yankees Wednesday night in the final game of a three-game series. The Rangers won Tuesday’s contest after New York won Monday’s game, setting up a rubber match on Wednesday in Arlington. The New York Yankees are -185 over the Texas Rangers on Wednesday.
With Tuesday’s loss, the Yankees fell half a game behind the Red Sox at the top of the AL East. However, only Boston has won more games than the Yankees this season. The Bronx Bombers have won five of their last seven games, although that stretch includes four straight days without a completed game due to rain in Washington.
The Rangers, meanwhile, continue to sit last in the AL West, and that isn’t likely to change anytime soon. Texas is currently 12 games under .500 and hasn’t won back-to-back games in nearly two weeks, something they’ll try to accomplish Wednesday night.
Everyone’s Favorite Lefty
Wednesday’s starter for the Yankees will be C.C. Sabathia, who’s in the midst of a great season at age 37. The big lefty is 2-1 with a 2.40 ERA in eight starts this season. Despite those numbers, he hasn’t been quite as good his last couple of times out, allowing six earned runs over nine innings over two starts. He was also uncharacteristically wild in his last start, allowing four walks in five innings against the Royals.
Sabathia also has uneven numbers against some of the Rangers hitters. On the bright side, Elvis Andrus and Adrian Beltre, who have both done damage against the lefty in the past, are both on the DL. Right now, Shin-Soo Choo is one of the few hitters in the Texas lineup who’s swinging a hot bat, and he’s a rather modest 6 for 21 against Sabathia in his career.
Aging Gracefully
The Rangers will counter Sabathia with another veteran pitcher in Doug Fister. Despite a 1-4 record, Fister has pitched well this season, posting a 3.43 ERA across eight starts. He was particularly impressive in his last time out, tossing seven shutout innings. Of course, that came against the White Sox, whose lineup is not quite at the same level as New York’s lineup.
In his career, Fister has fared well against most of the Yankees hitters, although he doesn’t have much experience facing many of them. Fister has faced each of Aaron Judge, Aaron Hicks, Gary Sanchez, and Giancarlo Stanton four times or fewer in his career, and on Wednesday, he’ll have to face them all back-to-back-to-back. Needless to say, he has his work cut out for him.
Bronx Bombers Explode
Outside of Judge and Didi Gregorius, most of New York’s hitters are swinging a hot bat right now, most notably rookies Miguel Andujar and Gleyber Torres. Fister and the Texas bullpen may struggle to keep them under wraps for nine innings. Meanwhile, all the Texas hitters that Sabathia should fear are left-handed. On the season, lefties are hitting .138 against Sabathia. On the surface, nothing about this game favors Texas. Take the New York Yankees -185 over the Texas Rangers on Wednesday.
