Astros vs. Rangers Pick
Will the Houston Astros make it nine straight wins when they face the Texas Rangers tonight at 7:15PM ET?
According to oddsmakers at Bovada.lv, the Astros are favored on the road, as they are getting odds of -175 to win. The Rangers are listed with a money line of +160 at home. The over/under total for the game is listed at 9.5 runs.
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Today’s pitching matchup has Lance McCullers Jr. (6-1, 2.48 ERA) on the mound for Houston to face Andrew Cashner (2-4, 2.92) of the Rangers. Cashner has been solid in four of his last five starts, allowing just 2 runs or less while going at least 6 innings. He has just 23 strikeouts with 27 walks this season and a WHIP of 1.36. McCullers is rolling along, giving up just 2 earned runs over his last four starts, a total of 23 innings. He has 73 strikeouts with 19 walks and a WHIP of 1.06.
The Astros opened the series on Friday with a 7-1 win on the road. Houston has now won eight straight games to get to 39-16 on the season and 19-6 on the road. Texas comes into tonight with a 26-29 overall record and 17-11 mark at home.
Friday’s game saw the Astros score in chunks, putting up 3 runs in the fifth and four in the eighth. Both George Springer and Carlos Correa homered and drove in three runs. Springer now has 14 home runs for the season while Correa has 10. Dallas Keuchel continued his dominant year, going 6 scoreless innings on the mound for Houston while picking up 7 strikeouts. Yu Darvish lasted 5 innings for Texas, giving up 3 runs on 7 hits with 8 strikeouts.
This is a pitching matchup that seems like it would allow Texas to compete, as Cashner has been pretty steady. However, he likely will need to be perfect. McCullers has allowed few base runners, and even fewer runs, over the last month. He is really in a zone right now and has a great lineup behind him. I like Houston to make it nine straight wins tonight by getting a few runs on Cashner and holding on from there.
MLB DAILY PREDICTION: HOUSTON ASTROS -175