Written by :
Published on :
Houston and Texas are fighting for the top spot in the AL West and this series has been all Rangers so far. Texas has won the first three games in this series after winning 14-3 against Houston on Wednesday night. This Rangers offense has now scored 12 or more runs in two of the past four contests and is scorching hot as of late. 1B Prince Fielder (.314, 21 HR, 83 RBI) is the biggest reason for the team’s offensive success lately. He is 10-for-18 with three homers and eight RBI over the past four games.
HOUSTON ASTROS (77-69) at TEXAS RANGERS (78-67)
Sportsbook.ag Line: Houston +102, Texas -112, Total: 9
The starters in this contest are going to be RHP Lance McCullers (5-5, 3.10 ERA, 102 K) for the Astros and RHP Colby Lewis (15-8, 4.45 ERA, 128 K) for the Rangers. Houston is 28-20 against the money line after six consecutive games versus division rivals over the past two seasons. Texas, meanwhile, is 10-3 against the money line after nine consecutive games versus division rivals this season. The team is also 14-8 against the money line in Lewis’ night starts this season.
OF Carlos Gomez (Side) is doubtful to play in this game for the Astros, who are already without C Jason Castro (Quad) and could be without 3B Jed Lawrie (Foot). The Rangers will continue to be without OF Josh Hamilton (Knee) indefinitely.
The Astros have picked up losses in three straight appearances for Lance McCullers, but that is not because of his performance. He has been pitching very well as of late, allowing an average of 2.0 runs per game over his past four starts. He has pitched 25.0 innings in those four games and will need more run support from his team. One thing that could weigh on his mind is the fact that he really struggled the last time he pitched in Texas. That start was on Aug. 3 and he allowed six earned runs on seven hits in 0.1 innings. He was lit up in that game and must erase it from his memory in this big spot.
3B Jed Lawrie (.234, 9 HR, 27 RBI) could be a big loss for the Astros, as he has had some success against Lewis in his career. He is 8-for-23 with a homer and two RBI against him and that type of production is needed in the lineup.
SS Carlos Correa (.273, 18 HR, 52 RBI) has also had success against Lewis, going 2-for-6 with two homers and three RBI against him. Correa was 0-for-3 on Wednesday night and the Astros will really need him to start driving in runs moving forward. It will be extremely tough for them to win the division if he can’t get it going.
The Rangers are on fire as of late and they’ll be sending Colby Lewis to the mound on Thursday. He has been dominant against this Astros team over the years, going 8-1 when starting against Houston with an ERA of 2.69 and a WHIP of 0.896. He did, however, really struggle the last time he faced this team. The Rangers won that game 12-9, but Lewis gave up seven earned runs on 10 hits in 6.0 innings of work. He had pitched 22.2 innings this season against the Astros before that lousy performance, allowing a total of seven earned runs in those three starts.
As previously mentioned, Prince Fielder has been on fire for this team. He has not, however, been the only one hitting. OF Shin-Soo Choo (.261, 18 HR, 67 RBI) has been great for the Rangers lately, with three multi-hit games in his lat six outings. He scored three runs on Wednesday night and is hit a two-run homer off of Lance McCullers the only time he has faced him.
1B Mike Napoli (.218, 17 HR, 47 RBI) has also had success against McCullers, going 2-for-2 with a homer in their brief history. Napoli has provided some serious power for this team in the past week, hitting two homers in his past four games.
3B Adrian Beltre (.271, 15 HR, 58 RBI) also enters this game on a hot streak, going 11-for-23 with two homers and eight RBI over the past five contests.
