#972 ASA TOP PLAY ON 10* Texas Rangers -120 over Seattle Mariners, Thursday at 8 PM ET - Seattle has been red hot but this is a terrible spot for them and we’ll fade the M’s tonight. They played a doubleheader yesterday in Washington including a game last night followed by travel to Texas. In their 2-1 win last night, the Mariners went with a bullpen game using 5 pitchers with none lasting more than 3 innings. In their first game of the DH yesterday, Seattle used 4 different relievers so their bullpen is a bit stretched for tonight’s game. They will go with Gonzalez as their starting pitcher tonight and he has been overvalued all season. His ERA is 3.24 but his xERA is 4.64 and his xFIP is 4.99 which is the third highest of any starting pitcher today. The M’s have won only 6 of his 17 starts this season. He’s facing a Texas line up that has been very good all season vs left handed pitchers. The Rangers are averaging 5.9 RPG this season and 6 RPG at home vs lefties. Gonzalez has faced Texas twice this season, the Rangers won both games and scored 9 total runs in his 11.2 innings pitched. While Seattle is in a tough travel spot, Texas will be playing their 7th straight home game and they are 4-2 thus far on their home stand. They will send lefty Perez to the mound. We look for him to bounce back after a rare poor outing vs Minnesota in his most recent start. For the season Perez has an ERA of 2.72 and in his only performance vs Seattle this year he allowed 2 ER’s in 6 innings pitched. Unlike Texas, the Mariners have not been good vs southpaws this season ranking 23rd in MLB with a .235 batting average. Seattle’s run comes to an end tonight in Texas. Take the Rangers