Rangers Roll Into Oakland Behind Bradford's Filthy Stuff

The Rangers just took the series opener 5-3 last night, and now they're sending out their ace to slam the door. Cody Bradford owns a ridiculous 2.38 ERA and 1.15 WHIP, and he's squaring off against Jacob Lopez, who's been getting shelled all season with a 5.38 ERA and 1.56 WHIP. That's a three-run gap in ERA, folks—this isn't a coin flip.

Oakland's offense has been lifeless lately, scratching out just 3.87 runs per game over their last fifteen. They're hitting .243 as a team, and their home splits are downright embarrassing: 1-8 at the Coliseum while surrendering 8.22 runs per game in front of their own fans. Meanwhile, Bradford is the kind of arm that feasts on struggling lineups, and even a cold Rangers offense should find enough barrels against Lopez to back him up.

Texas has the pitching mismatch of the day, Oakland can't hit water falling out of a boat at home, and Lopez is serving up meatballs like it's batting practice. DarkHorse likes Rangers ML here with moderate confidence—Bradford should carve through this lineup and Texas should cruise to back-to-back wins in the Bay.