The Texas Rangers and the Cleveland Guardians meet Sunday in MLB action from Progressive Field. This will be the finale in a three-game series. The Guardians took a blowout win in the on Friday, then in game two Cleveland eked out a close, low-scoring victory to keep it going. Check back all season long for free MLB picks at Sports Chat Place.

Texas Rangers 

The Rangers couldn’t score until the ninth inning Friday, and by then it was much too late in a 12-3 blowout loss. Texas’ Sam Huff had a solo homer in the defeat, and Austin Hedges had two RBI. on Saturday the Rangers had a 1-0 lead until the bottom of the eighth but eventually lost 2-1. Marcus Semien had the lone RBI while Nathaniel Lowe had two hits. 

Cody Bradford will take the start for the Rangers on Sunday. This year Bradford is 4-1 with a 3.80 ERA and 44 strikeouts. 

Texas Rangers Team Facts

The Rangers have lost each of their last six games at Progressive Field against AL Central opponents that held a losing record.
The Rangers have failed to cover the run line in eight of their last nine games following a loss.
The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Rangers’ last four games at Progressive Field.
The Rangers have trailed after 3 innings in each of their last five day games against opponents that held a losing record.
The Rangers have won the first inning in each of their last three day games against American League opponents.

Cleveland Guardians 

Over on the Guardians’ side, they scored five runs in the sixth inning alone during their Friday blowout victory. Andres Gimenez (homer; two RBI) and Josh Naylor (four hits; run) each had three RBI. In game two Cleveland had 11 team hits in the win. Steven Kwan, Jose Ramirez and Naylor each had two hits. 

The Guardians are sending out Gavin Williams in the Sunday starter role. This season Williams is 2-5 with a 3.43 ERA in 15 total starts. He has 74 Ks in 76.0 innings. Over his last seven starts Williams is 1-2 with a 3.51 ERA and 37 Ks in 33.1 innings. 

Cleveland Guardians Team Facts

The Guardians have won each of their last six home games against AL West opponents.
The Guardians have failed to cover the run line in 12 of their last 13 games against AL West opponents following a win.
The Guardians have led after 7 innings in each of their last six day games against the Rangers at Progressive Field.
The ‘Inning 1 UNDER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Guardians’ last six home games against AL West opponents.

Matchup/League Facts

The Cleveland Guardians rank 30th in the league for home runs this season (114).
The Cleveland Guardians rank 1st in the league for strikeouts against this season (1051).
The Texas Rangers rank 2nd in the league for hits this season (1368).
The Texas Rangers rank 2nd in the league for doubles this season (310).

ANDREW’S FREE PICK 

I’ll probably stay with the Guardians in this one. Williams is doing pretty well over his last three appearances. In that time Williams is 1-0 with four earned in 12.0 total innings of work, giving up nine walks and six hits overall. In the Saturday game two Cleveland got quite a bit of offensive output even though they only scored in the one inning. The Guardians haven’t been scoring super well over the last seven games; they’ve hit three or fewer runs in four of those matchups. Still, I think Williams can keep things manageable on the other side so Cleveland shouldn’t have to go too crazy at the plate to get a W in game three.