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Rangers try to add to Cleveland slump
By: Nick Bracken - StatFox
Published: 9/14/2011  at  4:53:00 AM
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CLEVELAND INDIANS (72-73, +4.4 Units)

at TEXAS RANGERS (84-64, +2.7 Units)

First pitch: Wednesday, 7:05 p.m. EDT
Line: Texas -195, Cleveland +182, Total: 10

The first-place Texas Rangers will host the slumping Cleveland Indians at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington on Wednesday night. Cleveland has lost six of eight and finds itself below .500 and 12½ games back of the Tigers in the AL Central.

David Huff (2-4, 3.05 ERA) will get the ball for the Indians on Wednesday night. Huff had a great outing in his only career start against the Rangers in April 2010, throwing a complete game and allowing four hits and two runs. Opposing Huff will be Derek Holland (13-5, 4.12 ERA) who has been hot as of late. Holland is 5-1 with a 2.95 ERA in his past nine starts. Cleveland has not fared well this season when labeled as an underdog (35-50). The Tribe are also a miserable 4-19 against the Rangers over the past three seasons, including 2-8 in Arlington. Texas, on the other hand, has the third-most home wins (47-29) in the majors and is tremendous as a favorite, going 67-44 (61%). The combination of a red-hot Holland and a Rangers team that rarely loses at home will equal a TEXAS victory on Wednesday night.

The FoxSheets provide a pair of three-star trends fading the Indians.

Road underdogs with a money line of +175 to +250 (CLEVELAND) - poor hitting team (AVG <=.260) against a good starting pitcher (ERA <=4.20) -AL, with a starting pitcher whose gives up 0.5 or less HR/start. (70-13 since 1997.) (84.3%, +43.1 units. Rating = 3*).

MANNY ACTA is 11-48 (18.6%, -36.2 Units) against the money line after allowing 10 runs or more in all games he has managed since 1997. The average score was ACTA 3.8, OPPONENT 5.9 - (Rating = 3*).

Huff has had some trouble recently, going 1-3 with a 5.23 ERA in his past four starts. Huff didn’t look too bad on Thursday against the White Sox when he threw 6.1 innings, allowing three runs but was given the loss in an 8-1 defeat. In Tuesday night’s game, Indians C Carlos Santana homered from both sides of the plate, but Cleveland still lost the season opener 10-4 because of some dreadful pitching.

In Holland’s past nine starts, he has limited opponents to three earned runs or less in seven of the nine outings. On Aug. 5, the tribe hit Holland hard, forcing him to leave the game after only pitching 1.2 frames and allowing six runs (four earned). Adrian Beltre has been scorching hot, batting .391 during a current 17-game hit streak, including home runs in three straight games.


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