The Astros have four games to close the gap against the Rangers in Arlington.
The Astros finish up their road trip in Arlington, with a four-game series against the Texas Rangers.
Houston Astros Lately
The Astros finish up their 10-game road trip back in Texas, against the Rangers at Globe Life Field. Through the first six games, they won three and lost three, losing their series to the Los Angeles Dodgers and winning the series against the St. Louis Cardinals.
In the final game, last night, the Astros scored two touchdowns while JP France tossed seven shutout innings for an eventual 14-0 Houston win. Kyle Tucker (11) and Alex Bregman (12) went deep, while Houston’s offense erupted for 18 hits. Rafael Montero pitched two perfect innings in relief to finish the game.
Texas Rangers Lately
The Rangers have won just nine of their last 21 games coming in to tonight’s matchup. In their most recent series, against the Detroit Tigers, Texas earned a split. In yesterday’s game, they dropped an 8-5 decision despite outhitting Detroit, 12-to-11.
The last time Houston played Texas was a three-game series at Minute Maid Park from April 14 through 16 of this season. The two clubs will meet each other twice more, back at MMP from July 24 through 26, and in Arlington once more from September 4 through 6.
Texas defeated Houston twice in that three-game set, including the finale, a 9-1 Rangers win. Houston only managed four hits in the game, and only Jeremy Peña had an extra-base hit a double. Framber Valdez took the loss by giving up five runs (one earned) over six innings. Valdez struck out seven.
Gametime and Starting Pitchers
Tonight, 7:05 PM CT — Ronel Blanco (1-0, 4.63) vs. Jon Gray (6-3, 2.89)
Tomorrow, 3:05 PM CT — Hunter Brown (6-4, 3.62) vs. Nathan Eovaldi (9-3, 2.82)
Sunday, 1:35 PM CT — Framber Valdez (probable) (7-6, 2.49) vs. Andrew Heaney (5-5, 4.38)
Monday, 1:05 PM CT — Cristian Javier (probable) (7-1, 3.72) vs. Martín Pérez (7-3, 4.28)
All-Time Head-to-Head
It may be hard to remember now, but these two clubs didn’t regularly play each other until relatively recently. The Astros hold a 124-132 all-time record, with a .484 winning percentage which counts as their 19th best against another team.
Who’s Hot (highest WPA vs. Cardinals)
Jose Altuve (.638)
Jose Abreu (.257)
Martín Maldonado (.241)
Kyle Tucker (.195)
JP France (.119)
Who’s Not (lowest WPA vs. Cardinals)
Bligh Madris (-.070)
Chas McCormick (-.071)
Yainer Diaz (-.218)
Framber Valdez (-.246)
Cristian Javier (-.449)
Team Leaders (Astros first)
AVG: Mauricio Dubon .286, Luis Taveras .296
OBP: Kyle Tucker .360, Nathaniel Lowe .372
SLG: Kyle Tucker .462, Adolis Garcia .510
OPS: Kyle Tucker .822, Adolis Garcia .843
HR: Yordan Alvarez 17, Adolis Garcia 20
RBI: Yordan Alvarez 55, Adolis Garcia 66
BB: Alex Bregman 44, Nathaniel Lowe 47
SB: Kyle Tucker 14, Travis Jankowski 8
ERA: Framber Valdez 2.49, Nathan Eovaldi 2.82
WHIP: Framber Valdez 1.05, Nathan Eovaldi 1.05
SO: Framber Valdez 110, Nathan Eovaldi 101