MLB Odds, Expert Picks: Our Staff’s Best Bets for Rangers vs. Rays and Dodgers vs. Giants (Sunday, Sept. 18)

NFL gets top billing today, but we couldn't ignore Sunday's MLB schedule. We've got 15 games, with a ton of afternoon action on the slate. Two of our MLB analysts have bets on a pair of games: Rangers vs. Rays and Dodgers vs. Giants.

You can find their picks for those matchup below.

MLB Odds & Picks

Texas Rangers vs. Tampa Bay Rays

Doug Ziefel: I wrote in more detail about this prop and one more from today's slate here, but Jefferey Springs has been a revelation for the Tampa Bay Rays rotation.

The 29-year-old lefty has made 21 starts after beginning the season in the bullpen and has been nearly flawless. He enters this afternoon's outing with a 2.41 ERA and 1.09 WHIP. However, what's most impressive about his game is that he can rack up strikeouts despite not having overpowering stuff.

Today he's matched up against a Texas Rangers lineup that has plenty of free-swinging righties but also features lefties like Kole Calhoun and Nate Lowe, who also have above-average strikeout rates. Overall, the Rangers have become a team to target for punchouts as they have the seventh-highest team strikeout rate over the last month.

We should see Springs replicate the success he had in his first start against Texas earlier this season, where he struck out seven batters in five innings of work. Give me the over 5.5 here.

Los Angeles Dodgers vs. San Francisco Giants

Tanner McGrath: This is one of my three Single-Game-Parlay picks for the Sunday Night Baseball game between the Dodgers and Giants (you can find the others here). The Giants provide value here on the ML, but I think we're going to see a low-scoring game. Given we're putting together a parlay, I'm happy to take the extra run in a game I see finishing 3-2.

The Dodgers have nothing to play for. They're gearing up for a postseason run, and I'm sure Dave Roberts is fine resting players if needed. We don't have the lineups out yet at the time of this writing, but I wouldn't be surprised to see some shuffling in the lineup.

The Giants lost the first two games of this series. That means we're getting the Giants as a divisional home underdog trying to avoid a sweep.

I think the Giants are frisky in this one and either win or keep it within one run.