MLB Picks

Houston Astros vs. Texas Rangers – 9/3/20 MLB Pick, Odds, and Prediction


2020-09-03 14:10:00 EDT

The Texas Rangers and the Houston Astros meet Thursday in MLB action from Minute Maid Park. 

This will be the third and final installment of the series between these teams this week. The Rangers eked out a 6-5 victory in the Tuesday opener. In the Wednesday game two, we had another tight one as the Astros evened up the set with a 2-1 win. Check back all season long for free MLB picks and MLB predictions at Sports Chat Place. 

The Rangers tied the Astros 3-3 in hits during the Wednesday loss, and couldn’t cash in on those knocks like Houston did. Texas’ only run came on an Isiah Kiner-Falefa solo homer in the fourth, and starting pitcher Kolby Allard took a tough-luck loss on 7.0 innings, two hits, two earned, two walks and four strikeouts. 

For the Thursday starting pitcher outing, the Rangers will turn to Lance Lynn. Over his eight starts this year, Lynn is 4-1 with a nice 1.93 ERA and 56 strikeouts in 51.1 innings total. Over his MLB career Lynn is a 3.53 pitcher with a 102-69 record and 1382 strikeouts in 1394.0 innings. 

Over on the Astros’ side, starting pitcher Cristian Javier got the win Wednesday with 6.2 innings, two hits, one earned, two walks and three strikeouts. Michael Brantley provided all the offense with a two-run homer in the first inning. 

For the Thursday start, the Astros are sending Zack Greinke to the mound. In his seven starts this season, Greinke is 2-0 with a 2.68 ERA and 35 strikeouts in 40.1 innings. Over his MLB career, Greinke is 207-123 with a 3.34 ERA and 2657 strikeouts in 2912.1 innings total. 

The Rangers are 3-10 in their last 13 games as an underdog and 0-5 in their last five during game three of a series. Texas is 17-39 in their last 56 versus a team with a winning record and the over is 6-2-1 in their last nine during game three of a series. 

Meanwhile, the Astros are 51-19 in their last 70 home games and 59-22 in their last 81 versus the American League West. Houston is 55-24 in their last 79 games as a favorite and 61-28 in their last 89 home games versus a right-handed starter. 

Pick: I like Texas enough to take them here. Lynn started four times versus the Astros last season, going 1-3 with a 3.54 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP. Though he took his first loss of the season with four runs in six innings versus the Dodgers his last time up, Lynn has been pitching quite well this year. As for Greinke, he’ll be tough to crack as usual but he’s given up six earned in his last 11 innings after a really tight start to the 2020 campaign. Should be a fun pitching battle here. 

Andrew's Free Pick: Texas Rangers +149

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Andrew

Andrew has been writing about college, professional and fantasy sports betting since 2013. Andrew's goal is to break down the complicated numbers and trends into a language that's easily accessible to novice sports bettors and seasoned professionals alike.

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