Astros vs Rangers Series: Houston Thriving on Road Success

Success Has Been Elusive for Astros, and Rangers in June

Neither the Houston Astros nor the Texas Rangers have been racking up the wins since the calendar flipped from May to June. The Astros vs Rangers Series Odds should be impacted by the fact that Houston leads Major League Baseball with 21 road wins while the Rangers are three games under .500 at home.

Houston is just 5-5 in the month and Texas 4-7. Perhaps one of them can gain some momentum during the upcoming three-game series. The good news for the American League West-leading Astros, the best record for a team in the division during the month is Seattle’s 6-5 mark.

Houston has won six straight series against the Rangers, including winning three of four games in the first two series of this season.

The MLB betting odds have made the Astros (-1000) the overwhelming favorite to win the AL West Division title once again. The Rangers are well back to +5000. The Astros (+700) are tied for the third-best odds to win the World Series. The series price is -200 in favor of the visiting Astros.

Astros vs Rangers Series Information

• Game: Astros 37-22 (first in the AL West) Rangers 28-31 (tied for second in the AL West).
• Location: Globe Life Field
• Day/Time: Monday, 8:05 p.m. ET (the teams will also play Tuesday at 8:05 p.m. and Wednesday at 2:05 p.m.)
• Television: Monday’s game is on the Major League Baseball Network.

Astros vs Rangers Probable Starting Pitchers

• Monday: Cristian Javier (Astros) Taylor Hearn (Rangers)
• Tuesday: Jose Urquidy (Astros) Dane Dunning (Rangers)
• Wednesday: Luis Garcia (Astros) TBD

No June swoon for Astros Top Hitters

It has been an interesting month to date for the Houston Astros. Only the Toronto Blue Jays and New York Yankees have better team better averages in June among American League squads; however, that hasn’t always led to impressive scores by the Houston Astros. Houston is tied for ninth among American League teams with 47 runs.

This is not a new issue for the Astros. Houston is 24th in MLB with a .233 average with runners in scoring position. Those numbers would be even worse if not for Yordan Alvarez, who is hitting .500 with three home runs, seven extra-base hits, and 13 RBIs in 10 games in June. Michael Brantley  (.419) and Kyle Tucker (.342) are also hitting over .300 during the month.

In the last two series, Houston is hitting  .183 with runners in scoring position and .336 in all other situations which resulted in Seattle and Miami winning two out of three against one of the favorites to win the American League pennant.

Rangers Flexing Offensive Muscles

Some of the offensive numbers for the Texas Rangers aren’t particularly impressive, however, they have shown the ability to hit home runs. That is something to consider when it comes to the Astros vs Rangers Series Odds.

Texas is fifth in MLB with 21 home runs in the month of June. The Rangers have three games with at least three homers in its last seven contests. There was one stretch when 16 of 17 runs scored by the Rangers were the result of home runs.

Adolis Garcia, who is coming off a season with 31 homers, is tied with Corey Seager for the team lead with 12 home runs. Mitch  Garver, Nate Lowe, and Brad Miller have seven hits each. Lowe is the only one of the quintet hitting better than .250 so far this season.

The good news for the Rangers is that only five of the 19 runs in the last two games against the Chicago White Sox came via home runs. The Rangers also have 13 stolen bases in June giving them an MLB-best 52 this season.

Who’s Hot

• Brock Burke, Rangers P: Burke hasn’t allowed a run in his last three games. He has six strikeouts in four innings of work during that stretch.
• Marcus Semien, Rangers IF: Semien is hitting .387 with four home runs, seven runs scored, and six RBIs over his last six contests. He also has two stolen bases during that stretch.
• Ryne Stanek, Astros P: Stanek hasn’t allowed a run in his last 16 appearances. In his last two outings, he did not allow a hit and struck out four of the seven batters he faced.
• Kyle Tucker, Astros OF: Tucker is 10 of 26 with three home runs and seven RBIs over the last six games. He also has five walks and a .484 on-base percentage during that time.

Who’s Not

• Dane Dunning, Rangers P: Dunning allowed nine hits, and four runs and had only one strikeout in four innings of work during his most recent start.
• Yuli Gurriel, Astros IF: Gurriel is 4 for 21 over his last five games and has not driven in a run during that stretch. Three of those hits were doubles.
• Cristian Javier, Astros P: Javier gave up six hits and five runs over 3.2 innings in his most recent start.
• Corey Seager, Rangers IF: Seager is 3 for 34 with one extra-base hit over his last seven-game as his average fell from .241 to .218.

Injury Update

Houston’s pitching depth is being tested with Lance McCullers Jr. (forearm), Jake Odorizzi (ankle), Parker Mushinski (elbow), and Blake Taylor (elbow) all currently sidelined.

For Texas, catcher Mitch Garver is on the COVID-19 list as are outfielder Steele Walker and pitcher Greg Otto. Outfielder Eli White (wrist) is questionable. Infielder Josh Smith (shoulder) is out.

Astros vs Rangers Betting Analysis

The three probable starting pitchers for the Astros allowed 18 hits and 14 runs over 12.1 innings in their last start. None of them made it through five innings. That should be kept in mind when looking at the Astros vs Rangers Series Odds. That is one reason why the total for Monday’s opener is 9 runs.

In the most recent series between the teams, there were three combined runs scored in two of the three contests. No more than eight runs have been scored in the first eight games between the teams this season with the Astros winning six of the eight MLB matchups.

The Astros are only hitting .222 against the Rangers this season, however, second baseman Jose Altuve did miss five of those games.

The Astros do have a 2.03 ERA with quality starts in each of the eight contests. The starting pitchers are 6-1 with an ERA of 1.27.

The Rangers are batting just .214 against the Astros in 2022 with just four quality starts.