The Texas Rangers and the Arizona Diamondbacks meet Tuesday in MLB World Series postseason action from Chase Field. This will be Game 4 in a best-of-seven playoff matchup. After a split in the first two installments, on Monday in Game 3 the Rangers took the series lead with a two-run win. Check back all season long for free MLB picks at Sports Chat Place.
Texas Rangers
The Rangers posted a nice comeback win 6-5 in Game 1 of the World Series, tying it up with two runs in the bottom of the ninth. Game 2 didn’t go as well for Texas however, as the Rangers flailed in a 9-1 blowout loss. On Monday in Game 3, the Rangers scored all their runs in the third inning on the way to five hits in a 3-1 win. Corey Seager put up a two-run homer, Nathaniel Lowe had a run, Evan Carter had two hits and Marcus Semien had one run and an RBI in an otherwise fairly quiet evening for the Texas offense.
As starting pitcher in Tuesday’s Game 4 matchup, the Rangers were originally leaning toward going with Jon Gray but he had to sub in for Max Scherzer (back) in the Game 3 win. Andrew Heaney will kick things off for Texas. So far in the postseason Heaney has a 6.00 ERA without a decision in four games (two starts). This will be a bullpen-heavy game for the Rangers.
Texas Rangers Team Facts
- The Rangers have won each of their last nine road games.
- The Rangers have covered the run line each of their last 11 road games against teams that held a winning record.
- The Rangers have led after 5 innings in each of their last nine road playoff games.
- The Rangers have led after 7 innings in each of their last nine road games against opponents that held a winning record.
- The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Rangers’ last seven road games against National League opponents.
Arizona Diamondbacks
Over on the Arizona side, they didn’t really get going until the seventh inning in Game 2, powering out seven runs over the final three frames. Emmanuel Rivera, Corbin Carroll and Ketel Marte each had two RBI in the victory. In Monday’s game the Diamondbacks couldn’t find any momentum on six team hits. Geraldo Perdomo had the lone RBI with Rivera scoring the run.
Joe Mantiply will be the starter in a bullpen Game 4 for the Diamondbacks on Tuesday. Mantiply is 2-0 with a 4.26 ERA in eight games (one start) this postseason. Arizona will rely heavily on their bullpen here as well.
Arizona Diamondbacks Team Facts
- The Diamondbacks have lost each of their last six home games against American League opponents.
- The road team has covered the run line in each of the Diamondbacks’ last six games.
- The Diamondbacks have trailed after 7 innings in each of their last six home games against American League opponents that held a winning record.
- The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the last six night games between the Rangers and Diamondbacks at Chase Field.
Matchup/League Facts
- The Arizona Diamondbacks rank 1st in the league for triples this season (44).
- The Arizona Diamondbacks rank 2nd in the league for steals this season (166).
- The Texas Rangers rank 2nd in the league for hits this season (1470).
- The Texas Rangers rank 2nd in the league for doubles this season (326).
ANDREW’S FREE PICK
I’ll probably lean toward the Diamondbacks. This one should be another close outcome though, and the hefty reliance on bullpens will throw a wrench into things. Arizona got off to a great start offensively over the first two games of this series, bagging 24 hits and 14 runs along the way. In Monday’s Game 3, the Diamondbacks bats faltered and the team didn’t get much from the top of the order. It was pretty uncharacteristic for Arizona’s 2023 playoff run; they’d posted four or more runs in four straight games prior to that.
The good news for Arizona is that the pitching staff was solid outside of the killer third inning on Monday. The Diamondbacks bullpen gave up just one hit in a nice performance, and it’s looking like they’ll get a hefty workload in Game 4. I like another (relatively) low-scoring matchup here, with Arizona’s offense finding some life at home. Should be a fun one.
