The Angels have lost 5 straight and are running out of season. The Rangers just want to keep their grip on a crowded AL West race, and Jacob deGrom's got the ball to help them do it.
Bush’s PicksPicks madeJul 7, 4:10 AM CT
+142LAATEX-159-155
-159LAA +1.5TEX -1.5+140+143
+113+116Over 7.5Under 7.5-134
Best BetRangers -155
Jacob deGrom is pitching like the ace Texas paid for, and he's lined up against an Angels club that's dropped 5 straight and been outscored badly doing it. The Rangers are the clear favorite here and deserve to be, even with some lineup pieces banged up. This is a bet on form and pitching over hope.
Angels
+Mike Trout could return to the lineup this series
+Soriano racked up 9 strikeouts in his last start
+Rangers offense missing Seager and Langford
−Riding a 5-game losing streak into this series
−Rotation gutted by injuries to Kikuchi, Rodriguez, Kochanowicz
−Soriano's overall June form has been rough
Rangers
+deGrom touched 100.5 mph in a dominant last start
+45-45 and still fighting in a tight AL West
+Facing a last-place club on a 5-game skid
−Corey Seager on the IL for the third time in 2026
−Also without Wyatt Langford, Josh Jung day-to-day
−Alternating wins and losses over their last 5 games
José Soriano and Jacob deGrom get the ball for this one, with first pitch set for 7:05 PM CT at Globe Life Field. Soriano's been inconsistent for most of June, but his last time out he punched out 9 Mariners across 5 innings before the bullpen let it slip away in an 8-3 loss. DeGrom looked like peak deGrom in his last start, going 7 innings with 2 earned runs and 9 strikeouts against Cleveland, reportedly touching 100.5 mph along the way.
The bigger story in the Angels' dugout might be who's not hurt anymore. Mike Trout has been taking batting practice and says he could DH as soon as this series, easing back in on turf rather than chasing fly balls in center field right away. Texas doesn't have that kind of good news walking through the door — Corey Seager is back on the injured list for the third time this season with lower-back inflammation, and Wyatt Langford isn't walking through that door before the break either.
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7:05 PM CT
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LAA Angels
TEX Rangers
None of that changes the shape of this series from the Angels' side. LA has dropped 5 straight and gotten run over twice already this week by Boston, with a shorthanded rotation that's lost Yusei Kikuchi, Grayson Rodriguez and Jack Kochanowicz to injury at various points. Texas has been streaky rather than dominant over its last 5 games, but at 45-45 the Rangers are still very much alive in the AL West, and holding serve at home against a last-place club is the kind of game good teams are supposed to win.
Los Angeles Angels
Texas Rangers
Recent form.
If Trout does trot out there Tuesday or Wednesday, it changes the calculus for the Angels' lineup instantly — he's the best player who's suited up for this team in years, hamstring notwithstanding. But Kurt Suzuki's club is still without Travis d'Arnaud behind the plate and has been scrambling to piece together a bullpen, so one Trout at-bat isn't erasing a five-game skid by itself.
Los Angeles Angels
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Texas Rangers
(0)
Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Injury report — info via ESPN.
Texas has its own issues to manage without Seager and Langford, but the Rangers still have deGrom lined up and a lineup that put up 10 runs on Detroit just last week. The Angels, meanwhile, have to prove they can hang with a $185-million-plus rotation piece while trying to stop the bleeding on a lost season. That's a tall order in Arlington.
