Houston Astros vs Texas Rangers Betting Preview
The Goldsheet offers their Houston Astros vs Texas Rangers betting preview for Wednesday, September 7. This game between the Astros and Rangers will be their final matchup this season with Houston winning 12 of 18 matchups so far.
Wednesday, September 7 | MLB Betting Notes, Courtesy of Caesars |
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Moneyline: | Houston Astros -292 vs Texas Rangers +235 |
Runline: | Astros -1.5 (-140) / Rangers +1.5 (+120) |
Total: | 8 Runs (Over -115 / Under -105) |
Game Time: | 8:10pm ET / 5:10pm PT |
Where: | Minute Maid Park in Houston, TX |
Weather: | Retractable Roof |
Houston Astros vs Texas Rangers Analysis
The Houston Astros host the Texas Rangers in the rubber match of their three game series. Houston took game one Monday night and the visitors took game two 4-3.
Southpaw Cole Ragans takes the hill for the Rangers, and right-hander Cristian Javier gets the start for the Astros. First pitch is scheduled for 8:05 PM EDT / 5:05 PM PDT in Minute Maid Park.
The Astros are big favorites at -292 and Texas is a +235 road dog, with the over/under total at 8. Houston is definitely the “big brother” in this Lone Star State rivalry, as they’ve won 30 of their last 45 meetings. Read on for more Houston Astros vs Texas Rangers info.
Ragans Attempts to Rally Against Astros
Cole Ragans is getting his first major league experience in 2022, and has pitched pretty well at AA Frisco and AAA Round Rock. The lefty has averaged about five frames per start and just over a strikeout per innings, averaging about a 3.00 ERA in 18 starts for these two teams.
He faced this Houston team in Minute Maid Park back on August 11th, and it was a rough outing for the rookie. Ragans went 4.1 innings, gave up six hits, five earned runs, two home runs, walked three and struck out one.
The Rangers’ inconsistent hitting and below average pitching are the main reasons they won’t make the playoffs this year, but the performance at the plate has gotten better later in the season as they’re 16th best OPS and team batting average, and 9th best in home runs.
Pitching has some room for improvement as they’re 21st in team ERA and 23rd in WHIP, but in the top half in bullpen ERA.
To look for a positive for Texas, they just faced Javier in his last start August 31st in Arlington. He went 5.0 innings and gave up four hits, three earned runs, one home run, struck out seven and walked three. Facing a pitcher twice in a week is an edge for the hitting team.
Valdez Very Underrated For Astros
Cristian Javier is probably one of the most overlooked pitchers in MLB, as he’s in the same rotation as Justin Verlander and Framber Valdez.
Although he hasn’t had a great record at just 8-9 on the year, the right-hander has put up a 3.07 ERA plus a 1.02 WHIP in 25 games, 20 starts and 120.1 innings. He’s struck out 157 hitters on the year, which comes to 1.3 Ks per frame.
For whatever reason, the Astros just haven’t given Javier a lot of run support this year – that’s the reason for the slightly below .500 W-L record at 8-9.
However, the third-year right-hander is a formidable pitcher who will give Houston plenty of quality pitching this postseason.
Houston’s hitting is still among the best in the league as they’re 7th in team OPS versus southpaws the last 30 days and OPS for the season, plus 5th in home runs. Their pitching staff has the 2nd lowest team ERA and lowest bullpen ERA in baseball.
Houston Astros vs Texas Rangers Prediction
The Astros have a big edge in starting pitching and every other category you can think of. Ragans struggled against the Astros about a month ago, and I’m not sure he can make enough adjustments to keep this talented lineup in check.
There’s too much juice on the 1st 5 run line, but I do like the home team to score at least three runs early on. I’ll take Houston to go over the 1st 5 innings team total of 2.5 runs for today’s Houston Astros vs Texas Rangers prediction.
Prediction: Houston Astros 1st 5 Innings Team Total Over 2.5 Runs
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Daily MLB Game Previews and Predictions
Besides our Houston Astros vs Texas Rangers prediction today, see all of the daily MLB predictions and picks by WagerTalk and Sportsmemo handicappers to assist you in betting. We breakdown various games from a betting perspective all across the league.
View all of our game previews using the links below!
First Pitch | MLB Predictions for Wednesday, September 7
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Join WagerTalk’s team of MLB betting experts every weekday at 1:45pm ET / 10:45am PT for First Pitch as we discuss the baseball betting slate.
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Meet the Author
Eric Pauly, @slimeaction on Twitter, graduated from Binghamton University with a degree in Finance. Eric is a die-hard Washington Commanders and New York Knicks fan and enjoys watching and writing about the NFL, NBA and MLB.
His favorite gambling movements include hitting a +1000 future on Washington to win the NFC East in 2020 and predicting Jonathan Taylor’s breakout season with a +900 ticket for him to win the 2021 NFL rushing title. Aside from the sports betting industry, Eric also enjoys good eats, dynasty fantasy football leagues, daily fantasy sports and playing the guitar.
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