The Houston Astros and the Texas Rangers will open a three-game MLB betting set tonight, which will be their second series of the regular season.
Time: 8:05 PM
Venue: Globe Life Park
Sportsbook MLB Betting odds for fans who bet on baseball:
Houston Astros -1½ (+125) 8 (-115) -126
Texas Rangers +1½ (-145) 8 (-105) +116
Houston
On the mound: ‘Diamond’ Dallas Keuchel (LHP, 8-0, 1.81 ERA, 62 K) leads the MLB in wins and is second in ERA and opponent average. The James Harden of baseball is 6-7 with a 4.24 ERA in his career versus the Rangers, and 1-3 with a 5.40 ERA in four starts last season – including one complete game. Keuchel has hit the corners with 10.5% of his pitches this season, which ranks him fourth among starting pitchers.
At bat: Second baseman Jose Altuve has reached base in every game on the road in which he’s had a plate appearance. Altuve is hitting .430 on road games with a .520 on-base percentage and .698 slugging percentage. Shortstop Carlos Correa hit .386 with a .457 on-base percentage and .673 slugging percentage for a 1.130 OPS in the month of May. He hit seven homers and had 26 RBIs – both personal records for the month. Correa is 16-for-31 during Houston’s current seven-game winning streak with three home runs and driving in 10 runs.
Trends for fans who bet on baseball: The Astros and won and covered in their last five overall and on the road games, but are 6-15 against the spread in their last 21 meetings with the Rangers. The MLB betting total gone over in 80% of Houston’s last five versus the Rangers.
Miscellanea: “Our wins are piling up there,” manager A.J. Hinch said. “We had an incredible month.”
Texas
On the mound: Yu ‘Dervish’ Darvish has eight quality starts in 11 appearances and is 4-4 with a 3.51 ERA in 12 career starts versus Houston – but has gone 0-3 with 4.35 ERA in his last seven starts against the Astros. Darvish has hit the corners with 11.3% of his pitches this season, raking him second in the Majors.
Miscellanea: Third baseman Adrian Beltre returned from the disabled list on Monday and was activated for the first time this year, going 2-for-8 in his first two games. Beltre is a career .299 hitter against Houston with 22 home runs and 70 RBIs in 122 games. “[The Astros] are playing good baseball … they are a good team,” first baseman Mike Napoli said. “When they get here, we’ll have our game plan and try to beat them.”
Trends for fans who bet on baseball: The Rangers have lost seven of their last nine games but have prevailed in 15 of the Astros’ last 17 visits to Texas. Similarly, the Rangers have covered in only one third of their last nine, but are 6-2 ATS in their last eight at home versus Houston. The MLB betting total has gone over in the Rangers’ last 13 times hosting the Astros.