Hit Total Prop Play For Rangers And Tigers

Rangers vs. Tigers, 1:10 ET

It is getaway day for a lot of the MLB squads. That means that we also have a lot of rubber matches for the day, and others looking to avoid a sweep. The three game set is a classic trait of professional baseball and fun to check out the results of the first two games. I don't care how bad your team is, no one wants to lose all three games of a series. Dominant teams also should be trying to step on their opponent's throat, no matter how early in the season it is. In today's game between the Rangers and Tigers, we get a rubber match as both look to win the series. 

The Rangers are not quite in a World Series hangover mode, but if you're a Texas fan, you don't want them to struggle to a .500 record for much longer. The only good thing for Texas is that they will eventually get their pitching staff to improve with the return of Max Scherzer. The other part of luck right now is that no one in the AL West is jumping out to a big lead. Most teams are hovering around .500 right now. Why is that important? That race came down to the wire last season, so every game does truly matter even these in the middle of April. The Rangers were able to take the opener as they won 1-0, but they haven't quite figured out the Tigers pitching staff as they've only scored three runs in the two games. Today they are sending out Dane Dunning to the hill. Dunning hasn't been great to start the year, but he has been strikingly consistent. On the year, he has three starts and has allowed three earned runs in every start. He has allowed a total of 12 hits and nine walks in the 18 innings he has produced. Two quality starts in the three outings is a good way to begin the year, and the Rangers have offered him a ton of run support in his wins, scoring 21 in the two wins, but just one run in the loss. The Tigers are 10-for-34 against Dunning, but it is really only Zach McKinstry that has done much against him. McKinstry has five hits in nine at-bats against Dunning.

Rangers starter Dane Dunning pitches against the Atlanta Braves at Globe Life Field. (Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports)

The Tigers enter the game just three games over .500, but this is the best start that I can remember from them in quite some time. Considering the team is hitting .213 as a team, being above .500 should be an even more impressive accomplishment. The Tigers are also averaging just 3.5 runs per game which might be the top-of-the-line production for the team. If their pitching staff can keep rolling, though, they will continue to be winners. Right now, Detroit is pitching to a 2.96 ERA as a team and allowing just a 1.09 WHIP. Their strikeout-to-walk ratio is almost 3:1 right now as well, and opponents are only hitting .201 against them. One of the people that deserves a good portion of the credit is today's starter, Tarik Skubal. Skubal is a lefty that is building off of a strong campaign from last year. In three starts this year, he has 17.1 innings under his belt with a 2.08 ERA and a 0.75 WHIP. The reality is that this guy just isn't giving up many hits this year and if he can control his walks, he will make for a tough day for any offense. In two of his three starts he has allowed no earned runs, oddly enough, the only time he did allow runs was against the Athletics. Rangers hitters are 8-for-21 against Skubal so maybe they have his number, but they haven't seen him in over a year. 

The Rangers are struggling a bit lately with their offense. They've only scored three runs this series and now they are expected to score four runs in one game against Skubal? I don't really like those chances. Under 16.5 hits for the game makes a lot of sense given how few hits Skubal and Dunning have allowed. If you don't have that bet available to you, you could consider under 3.5 runs for the Rangers as their offense has struggled quite a bit. I'll take the hit total (this is a combination of both teams) under 16.5 for today. 

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