Tuesday night will feature an intrastate battle of A.L. West teams as the Texas Rangers (25-41) take on the Houston Astros (37-28). The Astros will host this one from Minute Maid Park, with first pitch scheduled for 8:10 pm ET.
The Rangers have been reeling a bit as they have lost seven of their last ten games. They lost two of three in their last series with the Dodgers, including a 5-3 loss on Sunday. The Rangers had ten hits and drew four walks, but they only managed three runs on the day.
The Astros have been playing pretty well as of late as they have won four straight series. Over the weekend, they took two of three from the Minnesota Twins, including a 14-3 win on Sunday. In the win, Houston hit three home runs to support Framber Valdez, who went seven innings and allowed two runs.
Houston will also be looking for some revenge as the last time these two teams squared off, it was Texas who swept the three-game series.
The Astros are the favorites in Tuesday’s contest. They are -198 to win while the Rangers’ moneyline is +166. The runline features Texas +1.5 (-122), and the over/under for total runs is eight (-110).
Pitching Matchup
Texas will send righty Kyle Gibson (4-0, 2.13 ERA) to the mound Tuesday. He has been by far the Rangers’ best pitcher. He recently was on the injured list but has made two starts since then and has given up just two runs over those two starts.
The Astros will send Lance McCullers Jr. (3-1, 2.96 ERA) to the mound to counter Texas. This will be his first start since returning from the injured list and will likely be on a significant pitch count. In fact, the plan is for him to piggyback with another starter, Jake Odorizzi, in this one.
By The Numbers
Offensively, the Houston Astros have been the best team in the majors this season. They rank atop the list in scoring, averaging 5.51 runs per game. The Rangers fall to 23rd averaging 3.97 runs per game.
It is once again the Astros with the advantage defensively. They rank 13th in the majors in scoring defense, allowing opponents 4.18 runs per game on average. The Rangers rank 21st, allowing 4.82 runs.
Rangers Look For Continued Lone Star State Success
While they may have gotten swept in the first series versus Houston, the Rangers will look to their last season as a blueprint for success. Sweeping Houston at home, the Rangers found success by getting into the Astros’ bullpen.
One player who absolutely crushed Houston the last time they matched up was Adolis Garcia. On the season, he is hitting .272/.306/.525 with 16 home runs, 46 runs batted in, and 29 runs scored.
While Garcia is just one for five in his career against McCullers, that one hit was also a home run.
One player, the Rangers, who would love to see pick it up is outfielder Joey Gallo. While he has 11 home runs, he is hitting just .220/.380/.405. Against McCullers, he has had 21 at-bats and is hitting just .095.
Astros Trying To Keep Pace In The West
While Houston has been playing some good ball as of late (6-4 in their last ten games), the Oakland Athletics have been better (8-2). Currently two games back to Oakland in the division standings, the Astros will look to keep pace by picking up some home wins this week.
They are hoping that the home field is the key. The Astros and Rangers have squared off seven times thus far this season, with the home team winning all seven contests. Houston hopes that trend continues for the next two days.
Offensively, the team has been getting production up and down the lineup. Kyle Tucker (13), Jose Altuve (12), Carlos Correa (11), and Yuli Gurriel (10) all have double-digit home runs, and each of them have 30 or more runs batted in.
Throw in Yordan Alvarez, Alex Bregman, Michael Brantley, and others, and this lineup doesn’t give opposing pitchers too many breaks.
Taking Texas On The Runline
While the Rangers have been pretty bad this year, it hasn’t been in starts made by Kyle Gibson. The righty has been excellent and has kept them in every contest.
While the Astros may be the better team, it is also tough to know exactly what they will get from Lance McCullers Jr. as he returns from injury.
The Rangers have already shown that they can beat Houston, so the safe play in this one is to take the runs. In this case, that means taking Texas +1.5.
