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Carrie Stroup here with your Rangers vs. Orioles betting line for Monday June 29
TEXAS RANGERS (38-37) at BALTIMORE ORIOLES (39-34)
Sportsbook.ag Line: Texas +124, Baltimore -134, Total: 9
The Orioles will be going for their fifth straight victory when they host the Rangers Monday.
The Rangers ended a six-game losing skid with a 4-0 victory in Toronto on Saturday, but they dropped the final game of the series 3-2 on Sunday. Holding the Blue Jays to three runs over the past two games comes as a bit of a surprise after the Rangers allowed six or more runs in the previous four contests. They’ll need to put it all together moving forward, as they have been miserable offensively when their starting pitching has held its end of the bargain.
The Orioles, meanwhile, are red-hot coming into this game. They are coming off of a 4-0 victory and an 8-0 victory in a double-header against the Indians on Sunday and outscored Cleveland 16-3 in their past three games against them. Baltimore has won four straight games and seven of its past eight heading into this one. Over the past three seasons, the Orioles are 11-3 against the Rangers and eight of the games have gone Over the total.
On the mound for the Rangers in this one is LHP Wandy Rodriguez (4-3, 4.06 ERA, 54 K), who will be going up against RHP Bud Norris (2-6, 6.70 ERA, 35 K) for the Orioles. Texas is 11-6 against the money line on the road when the total is 8.5 to 10 this season and 11-5 against the money line versus the AL East this year as well. Baltimore, however, is 16-8 against the money line in June games this year.
LF Josh Hamilton (Hamstring) and CF Delino DeShields Jr. (Hamstring) are both on the DL for the Rangers and CF Adam Jones (Shoulder) returned to the lineup for the Orioles on Sunday.
Wandy Rodriguez is taking the mound for the Rangers on Monday and he’ll be hoping to rebound from a lousy start on Jun. 24 against the Athletics. He pitched just four innings in that game and allowed eight earned runs on 11 hits. Prior to that rough outing though, the Rangers had won in Rodriguez’s previous six starts.
A few guys that will be licking their chops to get this game started are 3B Adrian Beltre (.248, 6 HR, 20 RBIs) and DH Prince Fielder (.351, 12 HR, 48 RBIs). Both of these guys have had plenty of success against Bud Norris in their careers. Beltre has faced him six times and has two hits, but both of those hits were homers and he has racked up five RBIs thanks to those bombs. Fielder has a larger sample size, going 6-for-23 with a homer, four RBIs and three walks against Norris. They’ll need to provide some power in this game.
Another guy who can really help this team offensively is SS Elvis Andrus (.251, 3 HR, 27 RBIs). Andrus has hits in five of the past six games and has had a multi-hit performance in three of those contests. If he can hit the ball and get himself on base then the Rangers should be able to get something going and help Rodriguez by giving him some solid run support.
The Orioles have lost two straight games and four of the past six when Bud Norris is on the mound and they’ll look to change that on Monday, as they’ve been extremely hot as of late. The last time Norris pitched, he allowed five runs in 5.2 innings against the Red Sox in a 5-1 loss. None of those runs, however, were earned and he’ll look to get some better luck this time around.
Offensively for Baltimore, SS J.J. Hardy (.246, 3 HR, 18 RBIs) is somebody that will try to get it going for the team. He is 7-for-24 against Rodriguez in his career with two homers, three RBIs and two walks. 1B Chris Davis (.234, 16 HR, 45 RBIs) comes into this contests on an eight-game hitting streak and hit a solo shot in the second of two games on Sunday. He’ll look to provide some more power in this one.
Another guy who has been hot for Baltimore is DH Jimmy Paredes (.321, 9 HR, 36 RBIs). He was hitless in the second of the two games on Sunday, but he had five straight multi-hit games before that. He has been extremely consistent at the plate and Baltimore needs him to keep it up.
CF Adam Jones (.293, 10 HR, 36 RBIs) is looking to get himself going after returning from a shoulder injury on Sunday.
