Inside The Rangers

World Series Odds Favor Texas Rangers Over Arizona Diamondbacks

The Texas Rangers hold home-field advantage, along with slightly higher odds, going into the World Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Art Garcia|
World Series Odds Favor Texas Rangers Over Arizona Diamondbacks
World Series Odds Favor Texas Rangers Over Arizona Diamondbacks

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Texas RangersArizona Diamondbacks

The odds are with the Texas Rangers.

But just slightly.

The freshly-minted American League champions are going into the World Series against the Arizona Diamondbacks as the favorites, according to FanGraphs.

The Rangers, who ended the title defense of the Houston Astros with Monday night’s 11-4 shellacking in Game 7 of the ALCS, have 52.2% odds to win the first World Series in franchise history.

The National League pennant winners obviously hold a 47.8% chance after getting past the Philadelphia Phillies in Tuesday night’s NLCS Game 7.

The Rangers hold the home-field advantage in the Fall Classic by virtue of a better regular-season record than Arizona. Texas went 90-72, while the Diamondbacks were 84-78.

The best-of-seven series opens Friday night in Arlington at Globe Life Field.

The D-backs did win three of four games against Texas this season. Arizona was also partly responsible for the Rangers losing out on the AL West title during the season’s final weekend, as the Astros swept the Diamondbacks and Texas lost three of four at the Seattle Mariners.

The Rangers and D-backs were both Wild Card teams who won three playoff series without home-field advantage. There’s been some debate throughout the postseason regarding favorites not advancing.

Arizona manager Torey Lovullo dismissed the notion that somehow the playoff format is flawed.

“I don’t want to downplay the teams that have had terrific years, right? I just know that the best teams get into the postseason, and it’s a very well-deserved honor,” he said. “It’s a marathon. It’s a long, grinding, committed effort for an entire season. Once you get into the Big Dance, anything can happen.”

Regardless of the odds.

Western-Themed World Series!

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Art Garcia
ART GARCIA

Art Garcia (@ArtGarcia92) has watched, wondered and written about those fortunate few to play games since the 1990s. Award-winning stops at NBA.com, Fort Worth Star-Telegram and San Antonio Express-News dot a career that includes extensive writing for such outlets as ESPN.com, FOXSports.com, CBSSports.com, The Sporting News, among others. He is a former professor of sports reporting at UT Arlington and continues to work in the communications field. Garcia began covering the Dallas Mavericks right around Mark Cuban purchasing the club in 2000. The Texas A&M grad has also covered the Cowboys, Rangers, TCU, Big 12, Final Fours, countless bowl games, including the National Championship, and just about everything involving a ball in Texas.

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