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Rangers Odds: Texas Now Huge Favorites to Reach ALDS Over Rays

How likely are the Rangers to finish the sweep today? And if they don't, how likely are they to win the series?

By Jason Schandl

Rangers vs. Rays MLB playoff odds favor Texas after Jordan Montgomery led the team to a Game 1 win.
Rangers vs. Rays MLB playoff odds favor Texas after Jordan Montgomery led the team to a Game 1 win. / Kim Klement Neitzel-USA TODAY Sports
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How's that for being underdogs on the road?

The Texas Rangers' pitchers dismantled the Tampa Bay Rays to the tune of a 4-0 win to take a 1-0 lead in their AL Wild Card Series, and suddenly things are looking very different than they were just 24 hours ago.

The Rangers were underdogs before Game 1, and now they are heavy favorites to win the series

Rangers Playoff Odds

The Texas Rangers are now -250 favorites to advance to the American League Divisional Series over the Tampa Bay Rays (+210).

Those odds don't mean the series is favored to be a sweep, however. Playing another game in Tampa with Zach Eflin battling Nathan Eovaldi, the Rays are favorites to even the series at 1-1 on Thursday.

This is going to keep Rangers fans on the edge of their seats. Being favorites to win the series is nice, but we all know that anything can happen in a single Game 3, especially when you're letting your opponents carry the momentum into that matchup.

We'd all much rather just skip Game 3 altogether and get right to the ALDS and start focusing on a series against the Baltimore Orioles. Let's not mess around with extending this one out any longer than it needs to go.

If you're interested in getting a little math geeky on this, those odds are projecting that the Rangers have a 68.9% chance to advance to the ALDS, but that the Rays are 57.6% to win Game 2. Extrapolating from there (I told you we're getting geeky), that implies that if the Rays win Game 2 then Texas would be an underdog (46%) to win the series.

So it's obviously not like we're doomed if we don't finish the sweep, but suddenly we'd shift from being big favorites to advanced to being slight underdogs to advance.

Nervous about betting your Rangers with so much on the line? DraftKings Sportsbook will give you $200 guaranteed just for betting at least $5 on the game, and that bonus pays out in full even if your bet loses. That means you'd have plenty of ammunition to keep backing the Rangers, whether that was in Game 3 or in Game 1 of the ALDS. Just make sure to sign up through the exclusive Sport DFW link below to unlock your bonus before it expires!

Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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