Texas Rangers (7-5) vs. Houston Astros (6-7)
April 15, 2023 7:10 pm EDT
The Line: Houston Astros -250 / Texas Rangers +185; Over/Under: +7.5
(Get latest betting odds)
The Texas Rangers and the Houston Astros meet Saturday in MLB action from Minute Maid Park. This will be the second installment in a three-game weekend series. In the Friday opener, the Rangers secured a four-run victory. Check back all season long for free MLB picks at Sports Chat Place.
Texas Rangers
The Rangers played the Royals in their last series, winning the first pair before a 10-1 Wednesday loss. On Friday versus Houston, Texas had 11 team hits in a 6-2 victory. Starter Martin Perez lasted 5.0 innings with two earned, five hits and four walks.
For the starter job in the Saturday game, the Rangers will go with Jon Gray. So far this year in two starts Gray is 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA and 11 Ks in 12.0 innings. He’s 61-57 in his career with a 4.49 ERA in 178 games (177 starts).
Houston Astros
Over on the Houston side, they played the Pirates this week. The Astros managed wins in two of those three games. In the Friday opener versus Texas, Houston fell behind 3-1 by the end of the third and couldn’t make the comeback. Luis Garcia had 5.0 innings with five earned, six hits and two walks in the starting role.
Hunter Brown will make the start on Saturday for the Astros. This season Brown is 1-0 with a 3.09 ERA in two games. He’s managed 12 Ks in 11.2 total innings. Brown is 3-0 with a 1.69 ERA in nine career games (four starts).
The Rangers are 66-134 in their last 200 road games and 34-77 in their last 111 road games versus a right-handed starter. Texas is 1-7 in their last eight Saturday games.
Meanwhile, the Astros are 7-1 in their last eight Saturday games and 49-19 in their last 68 versus the AL West. Houston is 42-18 in their last 60 overall.
ANDREW’S FREE PICK
I’m going to stay with the Astros. The line’s probably too thick to mess with, though. Brown had a sketchy debut this year versus the Tigers (four earned in 4.2 innings), but he looked much better on April 9 versus the Twins. In that one Brown recorded a win with 7.0 clean frames, two hits and two walks. On Friday Houston couldn’t get much going on offense and Garcia had a rough outing. That said, I like the Astros to bounce back and post a victory here.
