First pitch: Wednesday, 7:10 p.m. ET
Line: Texas +170, Boston -180, Total: 10.5

The Red Sox will be hoping to pick up a big home victory over the Rangers on Wednesday.

Texas has been one of the best teams in baseball this season, but the club has lost five of its past seven games coming into this one. The Rangers are not pitching well at the moment, as they have now allowed 7.0 runs per game over their last seven contests. They did, however, win 7-2 against this Red Sox team on Tuesday and it’d be big if they can keep them in line once again in this one. Boston, meanwhile, had won two straight games and three of its past four before losing on Tuesday. The team is currently trying to make its way to the top of the AL East, so every win is big for the Red Sox. One thing worth pointing out coming into this game is that Texas is an impressive 36-22 against the money line as an underdog this season. The Rangers are also 8-1 against the money line after having lost four or five of their past six games on the year. It’s not all bad for the Red Sox though. They are an impressive 31-16 against the money line after a loss by four runs or more over the past two seasons, so they’ll be out for revenge in this one. The starters in this game are set to be LHP Martin Perez (7-4, 3.39 ERA, 51 K) for Texas and RHP Steven Wright (9-5, 2.42 ERA, 87 K) for Boston. OF Shin-Soo Choo (Back) is questionable for the Rangers and his presence would be missed if he were to sit this one out.

Martin Perez has been in a groove for Texas recently, allowing just three earned runs in his last 13.0 innings on the mound. Perez is not a guy who misses a lot of bats, but he has induced double-digit groundballs in each of his past seven starts. The Rangers have also come away victorious in each of his past eight trips to the mound. They’ll be hoping for something close to a quality start out of him in this one and it’s likely that he will get it done. He allowed just one earned run in six innings when he faced this Red Sox lineup on Jun. 26. Offensively, the Rangers to keep an eye on in this game are SS Elvis Andrus (.289, 3 HR, 37 RBI), OF Nomar Mazara (.284, 11 HR, 35 RBI) and 3B Adrian Beltre (.281, 12 HR, 53 RBI). Andrus is 1-for-2 with a triple and three RBI against Wright in his career and also happens to be hitting really well coming into this one. He is 6-for-13 with three doubles and three RBI over the past four games and it’d be huge if he can come through with a few base hits in this one. Beltre and Mazara have, meanwhile, been the best hitters for this Rangers team all season. They both have a ton of power and will be hoping to make Wright pay for any mistakes he makes on Wednesday.

The Red Sox are still looking to take over the top spot in the AL East and a win on Wednesday would come a long way for them. The starter in this game is going to be Steven Wright, who really struggled the last time he faced the Rangers. He met the team on Jun. 25 and allowed three earned runs in 4.2 innings of work. The Rangers got seven hits off of him in that short amount of time and he can’t afford to let them put that many balls in play again on Wednesday. Offensively, plenty of the Red Sox are capable of putting up some big numbers in this game. It is, however, OF Chris Young (.277, 6 HR, 15 RBI) that stands out when looking at this one. Young is dominant when facing lefties, hitting .340 with two homers and five RBI against them on the season. Boston will be hoping that he can go yard in this one. It’d also be big if SS Xander Bogaerts (.332, 9 HR, 52 RBI) can get it going on Wednesday. He was 0-for-4 on Tuesday and it’s no surprise that the Red Sox lost that one. Bogaerts is one of the team’s most important hitters and it’s not easy for the Sox to win when he is not coming through at the plate.