Texas Rangers vs Houston Astros Prediction, Preview and Odds - 07/12/2024

Game Time: 8:10 pm ET, Friday, July 12, 2024

Venue:  Minute Maid Park, Houston, TX 

Where to Watch:  SCHN

DraftKings:  Moneyline odds:  Rangers +136, Astros -162; Over/Under:  8.5 runs

Bet365:  Moneyline odds:  Rangers +135, Astros -160; Over/Under:  8.5 runs

BetMGM:  Moneyline odds:  Rangers +135, Astros -160; Over/Under:  8.5 runs

Texas Rangers:  44-49 (3rd place, AL West)

Houston Astros:  48-44 (2nd place, AL West)

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Texas Rangers:  7-3 last 10

Houston Astros:  7-3 last 10

The Rangers are entering this series off a loss and won their 3-game series against the Los Angeles Angels 2-1 in their last series. They enter this game with a 44-49 record overall and have a road record of 20-28. This is the series opener of a 3-game series with the Astros on Friday and they have Thursday off as a day of rest. Their offense ranks 16th in the MLB with a .697 OPS. Michael Lorenzen was their starting pitcher on Wednesday while Andrew Heaney is making his start in this game on Friday. He is 3-9 with a 3.80 ERA this season. His team won their last 2 straight games this season with him making an appearance. In his last MLB regular season start, he allowed 0 ER, 0 HR, and 2 BB with 7 Ks on 3 hits through 5.1 IP against the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Astros lost their 3-game series against the Minnesota Twins 2-1 in their last series. They enter this game with a 48-44 record overall and have a home record of 26-19. This is the 1st game of a 3-game series with the Rangers on Friday with the series finale of their series against the Miami Marlins still to be played on Thursday. The Astros won the 1st game of that series on Tuesday and the 2nd game on Wednesday. Their offense ranks 6th in the MLB with a .745 OPS. Rookie pitcher Jake Bloss is their starting pitcher on Thursday while Hunter Brown is making his start in this game on Friday. He is 6-6 with a 4.48 ERA this season. His team won 5 of their last 6 games this season with him making an appearance. In his last MLB regular season start, he allowed 7 earned runs, 1 homer, and 1 BB with 6 strikeouts on 12 hits through 6 innings played against the Minnesota Twins.

The current betting odds have the Rangers listed as an underdog in this game according to Draftkings Sportsbook. The Rangers haven't looked great in their games this season with their 44-49 record overall which has them in 3rd place of the AL West even though this is the team that won the World Series last season. They haven't looked great in their road games either with their 20-28 road record. Meanwhile, the Astros have looked good in their games this season with their 48-44 record overall which has them in 2nd place of the AL West and back in the playoff race after a terrible start to the season. They have also looked a lot better in their home games with their 26-19 home record. Both of these teams are hot coming into this series as both are 7-3 in their last 10 games. The Rangers are starting to get hot again with their offense too, and this is a game where they have the slight advantage with their pitching. Their bullpen hasn't been giving up many runs lately and they are going to have Heaney on the mound in this one. Heaney is 3-9 with a 3.80 ERA and had a terrible start to the year, but he has looked a lot better in his starts lately. He gave up no runs in his last start and the team has won 2 games in a row with him starting now. The Astros are going to have Brown on the mound in this one and he has struggled a lot this season. He is 6-6 with a 4.48 ERA and he has been consistently giving up a lot of runs in his starts. The team has had success with him on the mound, winning 4 of their last 5 games with him starting, but he still gave up 7 earned runs in his last start and that has been a common theme for him this year. Brown isn't going to stop giving up runs after that bad performance since he has been doing it all season, and now the Rangers offense is getting hot enough to make him pay here. The best way to place a bet here is on the Rangers to win this game.

Rangers Astros Prediction:  Our MLB Pick for Friday, July 12, 2024 (8:10 pm ET start time) is Rangers 8 Astros 5.

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Texas Rangers: 12-21 (-11.40 units) on the first 5 runline in their last 33 away games. 46-36 to the under in their last 82 games. 

Houston Astros: 16-4 (+12.75 units) on the moneyline in their last 20 games. 20-7 (+13.55 units) on the runline in their last 27 games. 45-31 to the under in their last 76 games. 

Texas Rangers:  D. Dunning (SP) Out indefinitely - Shoulder. C. Winn (RP) Out indefinitely - Shoulder. A. Pruitt (RP) Out indefinitely - Knee. E. Carter (CF) Early July - Back. C. Bradford (SP) Out indefinitely - Ribs. J. Jung (3B) Early July - Wrist. T. Mahle (SP) Mid July - Elbow. C. Coleman (RP) Out indefinitely - Shoulder. J. deGrom (SP) Mid July - Elbow.

Houston Astros:  Y. Alvarez (LF) Que Thurs - Hip. J. Bloss (SP) Out indefinitely - Shoulder. V. Caratini (C) Out indefinitely - Hip Flexor. K. Graveman (RP) out for season - Shoulder. J. Verlander (SP) Early July - Neck. C. Javier (SP) out of season - Forearm. J. Urquidy (SP) out for season - Forearm. B. Sousa (RP) out for season - Shoulder. O. Ortega (RP) Late July - Elbow. P. Murfee (SP) Mid July - Elbow. L. McCullers Jr. (SP) Early July - Forearm. L. Garcia (SP) Mid July - Elbow. K. Tucker (RF) Out indefinitely - Shin.

“He was just out of sync. His release point was off there a little bit. He was battling that and didn’t finish up strong. He walked a couple of guys and hit a batter. He’ll tell you that’s a recipe for something bad to happen. Offensively, we got guys on and we did some good things, we just didn’t get the hit.” - Bruce Bochy after his team’s loss against the LA Angels in their game on Wednesday.

“The curveball was a big pitch for him today. He landed it early in the count and got some swings and misses for strikeouts. He was really good.” - Joe Espada after his team’s win against the Marlins in their game on Wednesday.

M Semien (R) 2B

C Seager (L) SS

J Smith (L) 3B

W Langford (R) LF

A García (R) DH

N Lowe (L) 1B

J Heim (S) C

L Taveras (S) CF

T Jankowski (L) RF

J Altuve (R) 2B

A Bregman (R) 3B

Y Alvarez (L) DH

Y Diaz (R) C

J Peña (R) SS

J Singleton (L) 1B

J Meyers (R) CF

M Dubón (R) LF

J Loperfido (L) RF

Batting Average:  Justin Foscue (.500)

Hits:  Marcus Semien (88)

Home Runs:  Adolis García (17)

RBI:  Marcus Semien (50)

Stolen Bases:  Leody Taveras (11)

Wins:  Nathan Eovaldi (6)

Saves:  Kirby Yates (14)

ERA:  Kirby Yates (0.84)

Batting Average:  César Salazar (.350)

Hits:  Jose Altuve (114)

Home Runs:  Kyle Tucker (19)

RBI:  Yordan Alvarez (51)

Stolen Bases:  Jose Altuve (14)

Wins:  Ronel Blanco (9)

Saves:  Josh Hader (16)

ERA:  Dylan Coleman (0.00)

Managers:

Texas Rangers: Bruce Bochy (2nd season)

Houston Astros: Joe Espada (1st season)