Arizona Diamondbacks vs Texas Rangers
10:05am, Chase Field
Game 4 – TEX Leads 2-1
Game 4 swings around quickly on Wednesday with the Rangers maintaining their unbeaten postseason record on the road last night.
This shapes as the toughest matchup of the series to bet on, largely due to the unknown pitching matchup on both sides.
Arizona and manager Torey Lovullo have done a remarkable job to make it this far, but if there was one downfall that could always cost the Diamondbacks in the long run, it was lack of rotation depth.
After Kelly, Gallen, and Pfaadt, the arm talent drops away quickly – as we saw in the NLCS against Philly when the DBacks were forced to roll with bullpen arm Joe Mantiply in Game 4.
Fortunately, Mantiply has risen to the occasion, allowing only three earned runs in six combined innings all postseason.
The lefty has been one of the main reasons for Arizona’s success, but during the regular season, all it took was one bad outing for him to completely fall into a slump.
As I mentioned yesterday ahead of Pfaadt’s start, this powerful Texas lineup poses a completely different challenge to the one the Diamondbacks faced in Philly.
From a scorching hot Corey Seager, right down to midseason callup Evan Carter, Texas is loaded with crafty and powerful hitters that can hurt you in a variety of ways.
Most importantly though, the Rangers were one of the best teams at scoring runs against southpaws during the regular season, ranked sixth in the category and 20th in strikeout rate.
At the same time, Texas’ rotation isn’t exactly deep either, but it’s becoming clear that the Diamondbacks are struggling to match the production of the Rangers lineup in key spots.
With Arizona’s other key bullpen arm Luis Frias throwing an inning in Game 3, this could be a tough night in terms of depth for the Diamondbacks if Mantiply fails to produce.
Tip: Back the Rangers to Win @ $1.90
Best Bets: Adolis Garcia to Hit A Home Run, Josh Jung 2+ Hits