Diamondbacks vs Rangers Odds: Can Texas Hold On To Home-Field Advantage In Game 2?
Rangers Lead World Series After Adolis Garcia's Walk-Off Home Run In Game 1
All the Arizona Diamondbacks needed was two more outs in the ninth inning to earn Game 1 of the World Series. Instead, Arizona’s Paul Sewald blew his first postseason save and allowed the Texas Rangers to tie up the game in the bottom of the ninth with a Corey Seager two-run home run.
Eventually, in the 11th inning, Texas slugger Adolis Garcia sent Rangers fans home happy with a walk-off home run in extra innings. The Rangers won 6-5 and took Game 1 of the World Series.
While there’s a ghost runner in the regular season during extra innings, the MLB decided to keep the ghost runner away in extra innings in the postseason. That gave the Rangers even more of a home-field advantage, being the final team to bat in each inning at home.
After the heartbreaker, how will Arizona respond in Game 2 of the World Series?
Merrill Kelly will take the hill for the Diamondbacks, while Jordan Montgomery will heed the call for the Rangers.
Texas is sitting at -162, with the Diamondbacks at +136 on the moneyline for tonight’s matchup. Meanwhile, the total is at 8.5, with the Over juiced to -115.
On the other hand, the series price has the Rangers listed at -295. That number changed with essentially two swings of the bat. Conversely, the Diamondbacks are +245 in the odds to win the World Series.
Take a look at the Diamondbacks vs Rangers odds for Game 2 of the World Series.
Arizona Diamondbacks vs Texas Rangers 
Location: Globe Life Field, Arlington, Texas
Day/Time:
Streaming: FOX
Line: Rangers -162/Diamondbacks +136
Location: 8.5
Ketel Marte’s 17-Game Hitting Streak
There’s no silverling. The Diamondbacks lost Game 1, and it stings. But there are still some positives with Arizona.
After all, the Diamondbacks fell 2-0 to the Phillies and won the NLCS just last week.
Arizona’s second baseman, Ketel Marte, hit an RBI double in the fifth inning to give Arizona a 5-3 lead. That hit gave him his 17th consecutive playoff game with a hit. That’s the longest in postseason history.
Boston‘s Manny Ramirez and the Yankees‘ Derek Jeter had 17-game hitting streaks in the playoffs. Meanwhile, Hank Bauer had a 17-game hit streak in the 1950s with the Yankees.
We’ll likely jinx it by talking about it. But if Marte earns a hit in tonight’s game, he’ll have the record and stand by himself.
So far this season, Marte has recorded a hit in his first 13 games with Arizona in the postseason. This streak goes back to his time in the 2017 NL Wild Card and NLDS.
In the postseason, Marte has hit an average of .360 with an OPS of 1.017. Some guys perform better under the spotlight.
More Records!
Ketel Marte isn’t the only one to add to a record-breaking postseason.
Adolis Garcia just hit a walk-off home run against the Diamondbacks in the 11th inning to send the Rangers home with a 1-0 series lead over the Diamondbacks.
With that, Garcia made history in Game 1 of the World Series last night.
He’s hit 21 RBIs in a single postseason and still has at least three more games. Garcia is now tied with David Freese for the most RBIs in a single postseason.
Garcia has been on a tear all postseason long. His first-inning RBI single and walk-off home run pushed him to 21.
The Rangers still need three more wins to clinch. Therefore, there’s a good chance we get even more than three games in the World Series, giving Garcia a chance to not only earn 22 RBIs but increase that number even higher and make that record very hard to beat.
Check out our Diamondbacks vs Rangers odds for Game 2 of the World Series.
âš¾ Game 2 âš¾
Saturday, 8:03 p.m. ET
Merrill Kelly vs. Jordan Montgomery
The Strikeouts Keeping Piling Up For Kelly
Merrill Kelly has thrown in three games in the postseason this year. The veteran righty has thrown at least five innings in each start for the Diamondbacks. He’s also thrown at least 89 pitches in each start.
What stands out the most is his strikeout rate. Kelly only struck out five against the Dodgers. However, in two starts against the Phillies, he added six and eight strikeouts, respectively. His eight strikeouts in five innings on Monday was easily his best postseason start.
He allowed one run with three hits in five innings. However, he also added eight strikeouts against 21 total batters.
In the last month, Kelly has allowed a .212 ISO and wOBA of .315 to his previous 40 lefties. Still, he’s been solid against righties, holding them to a .100 ISO and wOBA of .219 over the last month. (Editor’s Note: ” wOBA ” is an obscure stat that you won’t find on any legitimate stat website. While we acknowledge that fans may have heard of or seen this stat bandied about in fan groups on social media or various other platforms – it’s not a stat that we would rely on or one that you should rely on. Bettors should disregard this stat.)
Corey Seager, Evan Carter, Nathaniel Lowe, and Leody Taveras would be the four lefties in the lineup against Kelly. Those four have combined to hit a .180 ISO and wOBA of .347 with under 20% of strikeouts. Those four have legitimate pop and potential against Kelly.
Arizona’s Struggles Against Lefties
The Diamondbacks aren’t nearly as good against lefties as righties. They’ll take on Jordan Montgomery, who has thrown 25 innings in the postseason. He’s allowed a 2.16 ERA and has given up just six runs on 28 hits, with 17 strikeouts and four walks.
Montgomery won’t blow any teams away. He will also give up plenty of line-drive contact and won’t see a high rate of ground balls. However, he’s facing an Arizona lineup that has hit a .126 ISO and woBA of .294 against lefties in the last 30 days. Only Ketel Marte, Gabriel Moreno, and Tommy Pham have hit for power against lefties. The rest of the lineup is very weak.
Arizona has six batters hitting an ISO of .125 or lower over the last 30 days against lefties. They’ve also got six batters hitting a wOBA of .299 or lower. Beyond that, the Diamondbacks have four batters striking out at least 27.3% of the time against lefties in the last month.
And to make things even worse, Arizona’s projected lineup has walked just 4.3% of the time against lefties. The Diamondbacks vs Rangers odds make sense. The Rangers have way more potential. After looking at the MLB lines, we’ll back the Rangers at -162. We like how the MLB schedule has the Rangers at home in Game 2.
Therefore, our MLB score predictions have the Rangers earning a 5-3 victory at home.
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