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The Texas Rangers vs. Detroit Tigers ALCS Game 3 betting line at Sportsbook.com was listed at Detroit -128 and Texas +118 with the OVER 8.5 at -120 (see all odds at Sportsbook.com here and be sure to claim your FREE CASH BONUS when joining up to $200)
The Tigers hope their fortunes will turn when they return home to host Texas for Game 3 of the ALCS on Tuesday night.
Detroit suffered a heartbreaking loss in Game 2, losing a 3-2 lead in the seventh and stranding 13 runners before losing on Nelson Cruz’s 11th-inning, walk-off grand slam. Based on the regular season, the Tigers have the pitching advantage in Game 3 with Doug Fister going against Colby Lewis. But Lewis has been a postseason star. He shut down the Rays with six innings of one-run ball in the ALDS and is now 4-0 with a 1.67 ERA and 0.99 WHIP in five career playoff starts
Fister (11-13, 2.83 ERA with Seattle and Detroit in the regular season) held his own in the ALDS. His ERA was ugly against the Yankees (6.52 ERA), but his Game 1 outing was marred by the three runners he left on base with two outs, all of whom scored when Al Alburquerque gave up a grand slam. Fister bounced back in their decisive Game 5 win, holding the Yankees to one run over five innings in New York.
Fister certainly enjoyed Comerica Park after joining the Tigers in August. He went 4-0 with a 0.98 ERA and 0.74 WHIP over five home starts with Detroit, all of them Tigers wins, and he’s thrown 16 consecutive shutout innings at Comerica.
Texas is familiar with Fister from his Mariners days, and Nelson Cruz (1.390 OPS in 15 plate appearances) and David Murphy (6-for-16, two HR) have hit him hard. But most of the Rangers lineup has struggled against the 6-foo-8 righty, including Josh Hamilton (2-for-10), Elvis Andrus (3-for-19), Ian Kinsler (.235 OBP in 17 PAs) and Michael Young (.588 OPS in 17 PAs).
Lewis (14-10, 4.40 ERA in the regular season) was much better on the road than at home this year, going 10-5 with a 3.33 ERA in 18 road starts. He was torched by the Tigers twice this year, though. In a June start in Arlington, Lewis allowed nine runs and 10 hits, including four home runs, in 3.1 innings. In Detroit in August, he allowed five runs (four earned) and 13 base runners in 4+ innings. Since returning from Japan as a new man last year, he’s faced the Tigers five times and allowed four-plus runs in all of them. One positive piece of information for Lewis versus Detroit: Brennan Boesch has gotten him for two homers over 15 career at-bats, but is out for the season after undergoing thumb surgery.
- Carrie Stroup, Gambling911.com Senior Reporter
