Houston (77-68) at Texas (77-67)
When: Wednesday, September 16th, 2015
Where: Globe Life Park, Arlington, TX
Time: 8:05 ET
TV: DirecTV 674, 676 Radio: XM 179
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As we predicted yesterday, the Texas Rangers have taken over first place in the American League West. In what was a playoff type atmosphere in Arlington, the Astros and Rangers went back and forth all night until Mitch Moreland hit a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 9th to win it 6-5. Both starting pitchers struggled with their command before the bullpens settled things down. Will Harris was the 7th Houston pitcher of the night when he came on in the 9th inning. He let up a single to Adrian Beltre who moved pinch-runner Drew Stubbs to 3rd. Then Moreland followed with a line drive to center that Jake Marisnick caught, but his throw was off line. The Rangers started the night with 4 runs in the 1st, but Houston got 3 back in the 2nd, then took a 5-4 lead in the 4th. Beltre’s double tied the game in the bottom of the 4th chasing starter Collin McHugh. All-in-all it was just a great game to watch and I can’t wait for tonight’s contest.
Houston will go with their ace Dallas Keuchel to stop the bleeding. We know he’s capable of it. There aren’t too many left-handed starters in Baseball better than him. He’s only allowed 7 earned runs in his last 6 starts winning all, but one of them. His road/home splits are amazing. He’s 4-7 with a respectable 3.13 ERA on the road, but he’s 13-0 at home. He’s been pretty dominant against Texas this year in 3 starts and that goes with the fact that the Rangers struggle against lefties. Texas counters with Martin Perez who has given up 3 or more runs in 6 straight games and 9 of the 10 he’s started this year. He suffered a 5-3 loss to Houston on July 17th in which he only lasted 5 innings.
There isn’t a stronger case for the Astros to take a game from Texas than tonight. Despite being 4-10 against the Rangers this year, Houston is in a good spot to take one tonight. If they can’t win this game with Keuchel on the mound, their season might end before October.
Pick: Astros -135
