Rangers vs Astros Game Odds: Can Montgomery Repeat Game 1 Brilliance?
Defending Champion Astros Continue Piling Up Wins On Road
Game 1 Starters Set to Pitch Once Again In Pivotal Game 5 in the ALCS
The Houston Astros know a thing or two about overcoming adversity at this time of the year. With two straight road wins, the defending World Series champions pulled even in the American League Championship Series. When looking at the Rangers vs Astros game odds Texas is a slight favorite.
There will be a rematch of the Game 1 starting pitchers when Texas lefty Jordan Montgomery outdueled Houston’s former Cy Young Award winner Justin Verlander.
The MLB betting lines have the host Rangers priced at -108 to win Game 5 with the Astros coming in at -102.
The Rangers saw their odds to win the series move from -240 to even odds after the Game 4 loss. The Astros are now priced at -130 after being +190 heading into Game 4.
The Astros (+200) are second only to the Philadelphia Phillies in the odds to win the World Series after being priced at +700 after falling down 0-2 and at +350 before Game 4. The Rangers saw their odds to win the World Series move from +110 to +180 to +275.
Astros vs Rangers 
Day/Time:
Location: Globe Life Field, Arlington, TX
Moneyline: Houston -108/Texas -102
Total: 8.5
Streaming: FS1
Making Themselves At Home
It was an interesting MLB regular season for the defending World Series champion Houston Astros as they were 12 games better on the road than at home.
The Astros led all American League teams with 462 runs scored, 130 home runs, a .268 batting average and a slugging percentage of .460 on the road during the regular season. That trend has continued.
In the first two road games in the American League Championship Series, Houston is batting .315 with three home runs and seven extra-base hits while going 13-for-28 with runners in scoring position.
Jose Abreu hit a three-run home run in Houston’s four-run fourth inning with Chas McCormick adding a two-run shot in the seventh inning in Houston’s 10-3 win.
Rangers Coming Up Empty
The Texas Rangers were able to erase an early three-run deficit in Game 4 thanks to a home run by Adolis Garcia and sacrifice fly by Josh Jung in the second inning and then Corey Seager’s solo HR in the third inning.
It was all downhill from there. A promising rally with two on and one out in the fourth inning ended with a double play and Houston turned another double play in the fifth inning.
From the sixth inning on, the Rangers were 1-for-16 with just two runners reaching base with just three balls getting out of the infield.
Who’s Hot
- Mauricio Dubon, Houston Astros IF: Dubon is 8-for-17 over the last four games. He had two hits and two runs in the Game 4 win.
- Rafael Montero, Houston Astros P: Montero has surrendered one hit and no runs with seven strikeouts in five innings in four postseason appearances.
- Josh Sborz, Texas Rangers P: Sborz hasn’t allowed a hit or a run in 4.1 innings during five appearances in this year’s playoffs.
- Corey Seager, Texas Rangers SS: Seager is 12-for-31 with eight runs, two home runs, six extra-base hits and 11 walks in this year’s playoffs.
Who’s Not
- Dane Dunning, Texas Rangers P: Dunning has allowed five hits, four runs and four walks in 4.2 innings in two postseason appearances.
- Hector Neris, Houston Astros P: Neris has allowed five hits, three home runs, and six runs in 4.2 innings in four postseason outings.
- Marcus Semien, Texas Rangers 2B: Semien is 3-for-16 with no extra-base hits over the last four games.
- Kyle Tucker, Houston Astros OF: Tucker is 2-for-25 with six strikeouts in his last seven games.
Astros vs Rangers Head to Head
The road team won 10 of the last 12 meetings between the Astros and Rangers. Houston all four of its road games in this year’s playoffs.
Houston won nine of the 13 games during the regular season, including seven wins in the last eight contests.
Nine of the last 11 games between the teams finished over the total.
When looking at the MLB standings, both teams finished the regular season with 90-72 records.
Astros vs Rangers Betting Preview
All of a sudden, the pressure is on the Rangers. When the series shifted to Arlington, Texas was up 2-0 with a chance to wrap things up at home since the next three MLB games were at home. After being outscored 18-8 in Games 3 and 4, the Rangers face what feels like a must-win situation in Game 5. The prospects of having to win twice in Houston to punch their ticket to the World Series are not promising.
Houston has won six straight road games and five in a row on the road against the Rangers.
Houston is 30-16 this season when listed as the underdog, including a 26-12 mark as the underdog on the road. Texas is 65-46 as the favorite with a 44-26 record at home as the favorite.
After the teams combined for 13 runs in each of the last two games, the MLB betting lines total has been set at 8.5. With the way that Montgomery and Verlander pitched in Game 1, it is not a surprise to see some early money coming in on the game going under the total.
While Verlander’s numbers in the World Series leave a little to be desired, it is hard to beat the future Hall of Famer twice in a series before the Fall Classic.
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