Houston Astros vs Texas Rangers 5/22/22 MLB Picks, Predictions, Odds

The Texas Rangers and the Houston Astros meet in an AL West division matchup in MLB action from Minute Maid Park on Sunday afternoon.

The Texas Rangers will look to salvage a series split after a 2-1 loss to the Astros in their last game on Saturday. Nate Lowe has 33 hits and a .248 batting average with 4 doubles while Adolis Garcia has 6 home runs and a team-high 25 RBIs. Corey Seager also has a team-high 37 hits, a team-high 8 homers and 19 RBIs and Brad Miller has 18 RBIs while Marcus Semien has a team-high 8 doubles and the aforementioned Garcia has 6 doubles as well on the year. Taylor Hearn will start here and is 2-2 with a 5.46 ERA and 31 strikeouts this season.

The Houston Astros will try to build on Saturday’s win and try to win the series after their win on Saturday. Michael Brantley has a team-high 39 hits with a .289 batting average while Yuli Gurriel has a team-high 13 doubles and Alex Bregman has 31 hits with 5 home runs and 22 RBIs. Yordan Alvarez has a team-high 12 home runs and 23 RBIs and Kyle Tucker has 7 home runs and a team-high 26 RBIs as well this season. Jeremy Pena also has 7 home runs and 21 RBIs of his own this season. Jose Urquidy will start here and is 3-1 with a 4.81 ERA and 20 strikeouts this season.

Texas is 5-1 in their last 6 games overall and 23-57 in their last 80 road games while the under is 8-3 in their last 11 division games. Houston is 7-1 in their last 8 division games and 16-5 in their last 21 games as a favorite while the under is 6-0 in their last 6 home games.

I get the reasoning for backing Houston here as the Astros have been playing the far better ball as of late. However, I’m not sure Jose Urquidy should be this heavily favored and while I don’t love Taylor Hearn, the reality is that he’s pitching really well right now and the Rangers have won his last three starts. Texas has also been a thorn in the side of Houston as of late, so give me Texas +1.5 here.