Championship series rematch in Texas

The Texas Rangers beat the New York Yankees in the American League Championship Series last fall, and both teams are in first place in their respective divisions this season as they get ready to meet for a three-game series in Arlington starting Friday night.

That series headlines the first weekend of May baseball at oddsmaker.ag.

Also this weekend the Cincinnati Reds, who sit a game and a half out of first place in the NL Central, are in Chicago for three games with the Cubs at Wrigley Field; the NL East-leading Philadelphia Phillies host the Atlanta Braves for three games at Citizens Bank Park; the apparently cash-strapped Los Angeles Dodgers are in New York for three games with the Mets at Citi Field; the NL Central-leading St. Louis Cardinals host the struggling Milwaukee Brewers for three games; the best team in the American League so far this season, the Cleveland Indians, are out west for three games with the Los Angeles Angels; and in an NL West clash the defending World Series champion San Francisco Giants host the Colorado Rockies for three games.

The Yankees got shut out Wednesday in Detroit on four hits by Max Scherzer, and have lost two of the first three games of that four-game series that concludes Thursday. So other than a 12-run outburst against the White Sox last week the Yanks are averaging less than three runs per game over their last nine games. New York, however, still leads the AL East by two games over the second-place Tampa Bay Rays.

Texas, meanwhile, won in Seattle on Wednesday 5-2 after losing the first two games of that four-game series that ends Thursday. The Rangers are now 8-12 since OF Josh Hamilton went on the disabled list with a broken bone in his upper arm. Texas, though, is tied with the Angels for first place in the AL West at 17-14.

Three weeks ago the Yankees took two of three games from the Rangers in New York. Two of those games played UNDER their totals on the oddsmaker.ag baseball betting boards.

Last year Texas and the Yankees split eight games during the regular season. The Rangers then eliminated New York in six games in the ALCS.

As of Thursday morning oddsmaker.ag is listing the Yankees at +300 to win the American League pennant this season, with Texas at +550. And New York is getting +600 on Oddsmaker's updated 2011 World Series betting board, with the Rangers listed at +1,000.