Texas Rangers (58-75) vs. Houston Astros (86-48)
September 5, 2022 7:10 pm EDT
The Line: Houston Astros -156 / Texas Rangers +135; Over/Under: +8
(Get latest betting odds)
The Texas Rangers and the Houston Astros meet in an AL West division matchup in MLB action from Minute Maid Park on Monday night.
The Texas Rangers will look to snap an eight-game losing skid after their 5-2 loss to Boston in Sunday’s series finale. Nate Lowe has 148 hits and a .305 batting average with 22 doubles while Adolis Garcia has 22 home runs and 84 RBIs. Corey Seager also has 125 hits, 29 homers and 72 RBIs and Marcus Semien has 22 doubles, 21 home runs and 67 RBIs while the aforementioned Garcia has 129 hits and 26 doubles as well on the year. Martin Perez will start here and is 10-5 with a 2.89 ERA and 144 strikeouts this season.
The Houston Astros will try to build on their 9-1 win over the Angels in Sunday’s series finale. Alex Bregman has 121 hits with 34 doubles, 20 home runs and 78 RBIs. Yordan Alvarez has a team-high 31 home runs and 82 RBIs and Kyle Tucker has 23 home runs and 86 RBIs as well this season. Jeremy Pena also has a .248 batting average with 16 home runs and 46 RBIs of his own this season. Jose Altuve also has 128 hits with 33 doubles, 23 homers and 51 RBIs. Hunter Brown will get the start here and is making his major league debut in this one.
Texas is 1-4 in their last 5 series-opening games and 0-4 in their last 4 road games while the under is 5-1 in their last 6 games against a team with a winning record. Houston is 38-16 in their last 54 division games and 56-25 in their last 81 series-opening games while the over is 5-1 in their last 6 home games against a team with a losing record.
I get the case to be made for the Rangers as Martin Perez has been one of my favorite pitchers to back this season. However, a thorn in Perez’s side this season has been these Houston Astros, as he’s struggled in his last couple of appearances vs. Houston and even with Hunter Brown making his major league debut here, I think there’s enough going for Houston to back the Astros in this one. Brown’s been solid in the minors, and I think he can carry that over to some success at the big league level against a Texas team that’s starting to accept their fate. Give me Houston here.
