AL West Division rivals are set to begin a series on Friday night when the Texas Rangers visit the Houston Astros. These two teams just recently split a series in Arlington, and they continue to be two of the best teams in baseball.
Texas comes into this game with an overall record of 7-6, and they have been a bit all over the place to begin the year. The Rangers have lost four of their last five games, and that includes dropping two of three to the Oakland Athletics.
Houston comes into this game with a record of just 4-10, and they have been struggling in a big way all season long. The Astros were just swept by the Kansas City Royals in a three-game series, but they are now returning home.
The moneyline odds for this game have the Houston Astros as slight favorites at -135 and the over/under line is set at 9.5 total runs.
Texas Getting Some Outs
Texas is coming into this game with an ERA that is just slightly over 3.00, and that has been a big key to their success this season. The Rangers have been getting great starting pitching and that takes pressure off of the offense to deliver.
Dane Dunning will be making this start and he has gone 1-1 with a 4.15 ERA so far this season. Texas will need the offense to step up as they have hit just 12 home runs so far in 2024.
Corey Seager is having a big season at the plate as he has started off the season with a .311 batting average. Adolis Garcia continues to swing the bats well also and he leads the team with four home runs and 13 RBIs.
Astros Are a Mess
It has been a miserable start for the Houston Astros as this team just can’t seem to get on the same page. Houston hasn’t been able to get enough outs on the mound, but the offense has completely disappeared in some games as well.
J.P. France will be on the mound in this game, and he has struggled mightily to begin the year. France is 0-1 with a whopping 4.76 ERA, and at some point he has to find a way to turn things around for a team dealing with injuries.
Yordan Alvarez leads the way with four home runs and 12 RBIs, but the Astros are waiting on a number of other players to really get things going.
Rangers Roll to Win
Both of these teams have been struggling a bit to begin the year, but the Astros are dealing with some significant injury concerns. Houston just has not been able to get outs from the pitching staff, and that will be a problem in this series.
Texas has still been hitting the baseball well to begin the series, and you can always count on that lineup to have some big games. This should be a great battle on Friday night, but the pitching staff of the Rangers will be the difference.
Bet the Texas Rangers +115 as they are able to win the series opener against their AL West Division rivals.
