I'm picking Texas to win straight-up on Friday at home. The Rangers are 42-24 SU at home and 54-35 SU as betting favorites, including 35-19 as home favorites. The Twins are 29-36 SU on the road and 17-25 SU as underdogs, including 13-20 as road dogs.

Max Scherzer has dialed it up since being acquired by Texas at the deadline, holding five opponents to nine runs with 40 strikeouts in 30.2 total frames. He's been a reliable pitcher at home with both the Mets and Rangers, too. The Twins suffered consecutive losses at home to the Guardians in their last series, losing steam after winning three of four against Texas last week. I believe they will struggle to score again vs. "Mad Max" tomorrow.

Joe Ryan has been a solid pitcher this season, but he's made just one start since returning from the injured list and it happened to be against the team he's facing on Friday. While he held the Rangers to one run in that outing, he put seven runners on base in five innings. Given how recent that game was, I believe the potent Texas offense is a good bet to have more success on Friday.

The Rangers haven't played their best baseball recently, but they have been a consistent winner at home, scoring six runs per game at Globe Life Field. With a future Hall-of-Famer on the hill, I'm confident they will provide him with enough run insurance to win.