Rangers-Royals Betting Preview: Weather Could Benefit Texas’ Bats

Texas Rangers at Kansas City Royals, 8:15 p.m. ET

• Rangers (Cole Hamels): -131
• Royals (Jason Hammel): +118
• Over/under 9

Bet to Watch:

Rangers -1.5 (+120)

In the last Hamels-Hammel meeting, Jason had the upper hand as the Royals beat the Rangers, 5-3, in Arlington. Though both pitchers have struggled to find wins this year, Cole has had the better overall season to this point — putting up a 3.69 ERA to Jason's 4.89 — and I'm betting on him to come out with the victory tonight.

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But the reason I'm eyeing this bet has little to do with the pitchers, or even the team matchup as a whole. I'm basing this one off the Kansas City weather.

Hitters should be able to take advantage of temps in the 80s throughout the game, and fly-ball hitters in particular could get some help from wind blowing out to left field. In fact, this game is boasting the second-highest FantasyLabs Weather Rating tonight.

So what does this have to do with the Rangers?

Well, as more runs are scored, it becomes increasingly less likely that this will end as a one-run game. And if this game is in fact going to be decided by the bats, Texas is more likely to be the team that benefits. They've scored 321 runs to Kansas City's 265 this season, and have 84 home runs to KC's 60.

I'm generally not one to land on a heavy public favorite, but with some plus-money weather-driven value, I'm willing to take my chances on Texas tonight.

Editor’s note: The opinion on this game is from the individual writer and is based on his research, analysis and perspective. It is independent of, and may not always match with, the algorithm-driven Best Bets from Sports Insights.