Texas Rangers vs Houston Astros Picks and Predictions August 6th 2024

At 8:05 PM ET, the Astros and Rangers will face off in an AL West matchup. This one is being played at Globe Life Field in Arlington, and the Rangers are slight home favorites on the money line (+104). The Astros have lost three straight and are 2nd in the AL West with a record of 57-55.

Currently, the over/under line is at 8 runs, and the Astros will be starting Framber Valdez, while the Rangers have Tyler Mahle on the mound. This game will be televised on BSSW.

Houston vs. Texas Key Information

Framber Valdez will be looking to build off his last outing, where he picked up the win and gave up four earned runs in six innings of work. In that outing, he faced off against the Pirates. Valdez has been pitching well lately, as he hasn’t taken a loss in his last five outings. Valdez has a record of 10-5 this season and an ERA of 3.56. Opponents are batting .247 off the left-hander this season. Valdez has one complete game and 11 quality starts this year. His ERA on the road is 4.38, compared to 3.85 at home.

Yordan Alvarez has been a huge power threat for the Astros this season, as his 20 homers are the best on the team and 11th in the league. He is also hitting .298 for the season. Catcher Yainer Diaz has also been a big power threat, with 10 homers and a team-leading 59 RBIs. Diaz has been hot of late, going 11/30 in his last eight games with two homers.

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As a team, the Astros are 2nd in batting average and are averaging 4.5 runs per game. At home, they are averaging 4.8 runs per contest. Overall, they are 10th in slugging percentage and have the league’s 2nd ranked batting average.

Taking the mound for the Rangers is Tyler Mahle, who is coming off a season in which he made five starts and finished with a record of 1-2. In terms of ERA, Mahle finished the season at 3.16, while his WHIP was 1.05. Opponents hit .220 off Mahle, while his OBP allowed was .257. For the season, Mahle made one quality start and finished with an average of 9.82 strikeouts per nine innings.

Corey Seager has been swinging a hot bat of late for the Rangers, going 12/37 in his last nine games with four homers and six RBIs. Seager’s 23 home runs this season is 8th in the league and leads the Rangers. Overall, he is batting .277, which is 3rd best on the team. Marcus Semien leads the team with 56 RBIs, and his 16 homers is 3rd in the league.

As a team, the Rangers are averaging 4.2 runs per game and are batting a collective .238. Their team on-base percentage of .307 is 16th in the league. Overall, they are 16th in home runs and have the 7th fewest strikeouts in the league.

Our lean for an over/under pick would be to take the over, as we have this Astros vs. Rangers matchup as the 9th highest-scoring game of today’s slate. Looking at who we like to take this one straight-up, our lean is on the Astros to pick up the win. Framber Valdez has the 5th best odds to earn the win among today’s starters, and he also has the 7th best odds to work deep into the game. On the other side, Tyler Mahle has the 10th best strikeout projection among today’s starters.

Tyler Mahle Set for Rangers Debut Against Astros

Texas right-hander Tyler Mahle will step on a major league hill without precedent for 15 or more months when the Texas Rangers face the Houston Astros on Tuesday night at Arlington, Texas.

Mahle’s Return from A medical procedure

Mahle went through Tommy John medical procedure in May 2023 as an individual from the Minnesota Twins. He substantiated himself prepared to return by gathering a 2.50 ERA in 18 innings across six minor league recovery begins once again the previous month. His last big league outing before the medical procedure came on April 27, 2023.

Texas marked Mahle, 29, in December as a free specialist.

“I’m simply eager to have the option to contribute,” Mahle told correspondents on Monday. “I’ve been hanging around for – – I don’t have the foggiest idea how long it’s been, yet we’re in August and I haven’t had the option to do anything aside from cheer everybody on. I’m eager to have the option to rival these folks.”

Rangers’ Pitching Burdens

Texas has been lacking in beginning pitching, so the planning of Mahle’s presentation is great. Jacob deGrom (elbow) has missed the whole season, Max Scherzer (shoulder) just backpedaled on the harmed list for another stretch, and Jon Dark (groin) is probably not going to return until September.

Mahle has burned through seven seasons in the majors – – the initial 5 1/2 for the Cincinnati Reds prior to being exchanged to the Twins at the cutoff time in 2022. He had a vocation best season in 2021 when he went 13-6 with a 3.75 ERA in 33 beginnings for the Reds.

Mahle’s Approach

Giving good innings to the Rangers is his lone goal on Tuesday in the middle contest of a three-game set between heated American League West rivals.

“As long as I try to not do too much out on the mound, that’s when I’ve been at my best,” Mahle said. “I’m just going to try to remember that and not get ahead of myself and do what I know I can do. Just try to make pitches.”

Series Opener Recap

The Rangers won the series opener 4-3 on Monday when Josh Smith belted a two-run, two-out homer in the bottom of the 10th inning. Smith said it was his first walk-off homer at any level.

“That’s pretty cool, and then to do it against the rival and division team is pretty sweet,” Smith said.

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Corey Seager hit his fourth homer over the past four games for Texas, which won for just the third time in 10 games.

Astros’ Struggles

Houston also is struggling, having lost six times in the past eight games. In the series opener, the Astros went ahead in the top of the 10th on consecutive hit batters before seeing Smith send one into orbit in the bottom half of the frame.

“That’s baseball. Sometimes you got to tip your hat,” said Houston third baseman Alex Bregman, who homered on Monday. “Seager took a really good swing on a good pitch and Smith took a great swing as well.”

The Astros have scored just seven runs in their past four games, and they lost the past three.

Pitching Matchup: Valdez vs. Rangers

Houston left-hander Framber Valdez (10-5, 3.56 ERA) is looking to win his sixth consecutive decision. He is 5-0 with a 2.95 ERA in his last seven starts. Valdez struck out 10 in three of his past four outings.

Valdez, 30, defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates in his latest turn when he gave up four runs and six hits over six innings on Wednesday. He hadn’t allowed that many earned runs since yielding five to the San Francisco Giants on June 12.

Valdez is 7-5 with a 2.90 ERA in 16 career regular-season appearances (13 starts) against Texas. This will be his first outing against the Astros this season and he will look to atone for going 0-2 with an 8.22 ERA against the Rangers in last season’s American League Championship Series.

Marcus Semien is 8-for-29 (.276) with two homers off Valdez during the regular season.