Texas Rangers (17-20) vs. Houston Astros (25-14)
May 21, 2022 7:10 pm EDT
The Line: Houston Astros -256 / Texas Rangers +180; 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 third installment in a four-game weekend set. The Astros took a four-run win in the Thursday opener, then on Friday the Rangers evened it up with a shutout victory. Check back all season long for free MLB picks at Sports Chat Place.
Texas couldn’t find much offense after the first inning on Thursday, eventually limping toward a 5-1 loss. In the Friday game two, the Rangers got a complete-game shutout performance from starter Martin Perez. He finished on seven hits, one walk and five strikeouts.
Starter for Texas on Saturday will be Jon Gray. This year over his five starts Gray is 1-1 with a 5.73 ERA. Across 22.0 innings Gray has put up 21 hits, 14 earned runs, eight walks and 23 strikeouts.
Over on the Astros’ side, they notched 10 hits in the Thursday opener and sealed the win with three runs in the eighth inning. On Friday, Houston gave up two runs in the eighth inning on the way to the loss. Christian Javier managed 6.0 innings in the start with one earned on three hits and a walk.
Justin Verlander will make the start for the Astros on Saturday. Across his seven starts this season Verlander is 5-1 with a 1.38 ERA. In his 45.2 innings total Verlander has 22 hits, seven earned runs, nine walks and 41 Ks.
The Rangers are 4-1 in their last five in game three of a series and 19-39 in their last 58 versus a team with a winning record. Texas is 22-57 in their last 79 road games.
Meanwhile, the Astros are 3-10 in their last 13 Saturday games and 38-18 in their last 56 at home. Houston is 19-7 in their last 26 overall.
PICK: I have to stay with the Astros here. Probably not touching it due to the thick line, though. Verlander has been great over his last pair of outings. He’s got 13.0 clean innings in that span with just three hits and five walks in two victories. As for Gray, he’s been hit-and-miss over the last three starts. Gray gave up four earned on eight hits and a walk in 5.2 innings his last time up. Verlander will likely control this one and put Houston in a winning position.
