MLB Odds: Blue Jays at Rangers

The Toronto Blue Jays were presumed dead when both the Boston Red Sox and New York Yankees passed them in the AL East standings. No one really took the Jays seriously when they went out on their last road trip and lost all nine games.

Yet here the Jays are having won three games in a row and seven of 11 to move within two games of the first-place Red Sox in the division.

They can finish a three-game sweep of Texas tonight (it was supposed to be four, but Wednesday’s game was rained out), but the Rangers are -159 money line favorites on WagerWeb.com.

Texas has lost three of four games and is really starting to miss injured outfielder Josh Hamilton and pitchers Brandon McCarthy and Frank Francisco. Another injured pitcher, Matt Harrison, was supposed to come off the disabled list and start tonight, but he isn’t quite ready yet.

So Kevin Millwood (5-4, 2.96) will start tonight. Derek Holland was scheduled to pitch Thursday with Harrison not ready, but Millwood, who was supposed to go Wednesday, will start instead. He is 1-4 with a 6.25 ERA in eight career starts against the Blue Jays.

The Texas offense also has hit a wall, with just three runs and 11 hits over the past two games. Over the past 23 games, the Rangers are hitting just .249 with a .422 slugging percentage and averaging 4.3 runs per game. In their first 35 games of the season, the Rangers batted .279 with a .500 slugging percentage and averaged 5.7 runs per game.

“We have not been going as well as we can be,” third baseman Michael Young said. “Our offense has always taken pride in making adjustments, and it’s a matter of coming out with a little more energy. The last few games, we’ve been flat out there. Two games is more than enough time to get going.”

Toronto was supposed to start Scott Richmond tonight, but because of Wednesday’s rainout, the Jays will skip him and go with Romero. In fact, the Jays will skip Richmond’s next two starts. Romero (3-2, 4.10) is making his first appearance against the Rangers, who are hitting .198 against left-handers since May 16.

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