Wed 3 Apr, 2019, 8:05 PM (EDT)
Texas Rangers vs. Houston Astros - 4/3/19 MLB Pick, Odds, and Prediction
By: Chris
Created: 4/3/19
Houston Astros at Texas Rangers
Wednesday April 3, 2019, 8:05 PM (EDT)
Texas Rangers +155 / Houston Astros -175
FS-Southwest
Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports
The Houston Astros and the Texas Rangers meet in the rubber match of their three game AL West division set from Globe Life Park on Wednesday night.
The Houston Astros will look to win the set after dropping game two on Tuesday by a final score of 6-4. Carlos Correa had an RBI and a double while George Springer, Michael Brantley and Tony Kemp each chipped in an RBI with Springer going 2 for 3 at the dish. Alex Bregman went 2 for 3 with a double and Josh Reddick went 3 for 3 while Jose Altuve and Yuli Gurriel each had a base hit as well in the losing effort. Justin Verlander went four innings, allowing four runs on six hits while walking three and striking out four, not factoring in the decision. Framber Valdez ended up with the loss to fall to 0-1 this season. Gerrit Cole will start game three and is 0-1 with a 1.50 ERA and 10 strikeouts this season. In his career, Cole is 3-0 with a 2.25 ERA and 49 strikeouts against Texas.
The Texas Rangers will look to win the set after emerging victorious on Tuesday in game two. Joey Gallo and Asdrubal Cabrera each had two RBIs with Cabrera going 1 for 4 with a home run. Elvis Andrus and Nomar Mazara each added an RBI as well with Andrus going 2 for 4 with a double. Shin-Soo Choo went 2 for 5 with a triple and a double while Rougned Odor and Jeff Mathis each had a base hit in the winning effort for the Rangers. Shelby Miller went 3.2 innings, allowing two runs on five hits while walking five and striking out a pair, not factoring in the decision. Shawn Kelley got the win to improve to 2-0 while Jose Leclerc picked up his 2nd save of the season. Mike Minor will start game three and is 0-1 with an 11.57 ERA and 3 strikeouts this season. In his career, Minor is 2-2 with a 4.74 ERA and 40 strikeouts against Houston.
Houston is 25-10 in Cole's last 35 starts and 42-17 in their last 59 road games while the under is 6-0 in their last 6 games overall. Texas is 2-5 in Minor's last 7 home starts and 1-4 in their last 5 division games while the under is 4-1 in Minor's last 5 division starts. Houston is 4-0 in Cole's last 4 starts against Texas.
The Astros really burned a hole in my pocket with the loss on Tuesday, but I'm not ready to give up on the Astros just yet, or clearly I'm not learning my lesson. Minor got torched in his first start of the season, and while Cole didn't get the win, Cole still pitched the much better game of the two in their respective first outings of the season. This pick to me simply boils down to the Astros having a major pitching advantage and a price that's pretty reasonable given the circumstances, so I'll lay the juice with Houston here.
Houston Astros -175
Chris has been a sports fan from when he was old enough to pick up a basketball and was a standout offensive lineman throughout high school and college. Chris uses that same instinct, determination and drive to analyze trends and statistics to find and produce winners on a consistent basis. Chris has been writing for Sports Chat Place since 2016 and covers a wide array of sports from college and pro football, college basketball, hockey and baseball.