Texas sends Rookie of the Year candidate Alexi Ogando to the bump while lefthander Brett Cecil (2-4, 5.59) will throw then down for Toronto which had won eight of 10ing into the series. The Rangers meanwhile are 14-2 in their last 16 games with the only lossesing to the Angels in the final two games of their series in Anaheim.

Sportsbooks opened Ogando as a hefty -205 MLB odds favorite with the total at 9.5. The Rangers is 3-0 in his last three starts with right-hander allowing a total five runs in 21 2/3 innings over his last three starts. In addition Ogando has been dominant at home (7-1, 2.54) and under the lights (9-1, 2.42).  He’s also been one of the top earners for MLB bettors in the American League banking $498 and change. This is the third time this year he’s been favored b $2.00 or more.

What happened to Cecil?

Following a 2010 campaign in which he went 15-7, Cecil has had a rough go of it. The low point came on April 21 when he was demoted to Triple-A Las Vegas to work on his control and velocity. In his four starts prior to being sent down he gave up 24 hits in 21 innings with four homers, 11 walks and 15 strikeouts.

Since he rejoined the Jays on June 30, he’s 1-2 and has given up 15 runs in 21 1/3 innings and it doesn’t appear as though there’s been much of an improvement. His lifetime numbers against Texas are pretty astounding. In seven innings of work Cecil has given up 15 earned runs and 17 hits for an ERA of 19.29 ERA and the Rangers are hitting .472 against him. He’s also 1-0.  

Rally time

The Rangers captured Saturday night’s game in dramatic fashion winning 6-5. Texas trailed 5-4 entering the bottom of the ninth but Elvis Andrus laid down a perfect squeeze bunt to score Mike Napoli with the tying run and then two batters later Matt Young delivered the walk-off single scoring Chris Gentry with the game winner.

Josh Hamilton snapped an 0 for 10 slump with three hits to finally get his season average above .300 (.302). The only bummer on an otherwise productive night was word that Adrian Beltre will be out 2-3 weeks with a sprained hamstring. It will be interesting to see how they fair without Beltre who was hitting .276 with 20 homers and 76 runs batted in. Doug Davis was called up from Triple-A Round Rock to replace him.

Blue Jays bright spot

Toronto’s rookie catcher J.P. Arencibia homered giving him three round-trippers in the past two nights. The former first round pick from Tennessee has battled hand and wrist injuries this season but has still managed to hit 15 big flies with 42 RBI’s.

The fourth-place Blue Jays (50-51) are now 12.5 games behind the first-place Red Sox. The Rangers (58-43) have upped their lead to four games over the Angels in the AL West thanks to a 33-18 home record.

Making money

Toronto is 8-3 in its last 11 overall and 10-4 in the last 14 series meetings. Texas is on an 8-0 streak at home and 16-5 overall in their past 21 games.

The ‘over’ is 10-3 in the Rangers last 13 home games and is 32-17-1 overall at Rangers Ballpark. The Blue Jays are 9-2-1 in Cecil’s last 12 games played on natural turf.

Two other key trends to remember; Toronto’s is 33-19 road on the run line while Texas is a whopping 32-17 at home to the ‘over’.

Harvey’s Take: Ogando has been the best rookie pitcher in baseball but at some point he’s going to falter. I think that day is today so I’m making a play on Toronto +195 to pull off the upset in Texas.

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