Texas Rangers vs Houston Astros Prediction, Preview and Odds - 07/13/2024

Game Time: 4:10 pm ET, Saturday, July 13, 2024

Venue:  Minute Maid Park, Houston, TX 

Where to Watch:  BSSW

DraftKings:  Moneyline odds:  Rangers -122, Astros +102; Over/Under:  8.5 runs

Bet365:  Moneyline odds:  Rangers -120, Astros +100; Over/Under:  8.5 runs

BetMGM:  Moneyline odds:  Rangers -120, Astros +100; Over/Under:  8.5 runs

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

Houston Astros:  49-44 (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 2nd game of a 3-game series with the Astros on Saturday with the series opener of this series still to be played on Friday. Their offense ranks 16th in the MLB with a .697 OPS. Andrew Heaney is their starting pitcher on Friday while Nathan Eovaldi is making his start in this game on Saturday. He is 6-3 with a 3.10 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 2 ER, 1 HR, and 0 BB with 5 Ks on 4 hits through 7 IP against the Tampa Bay Rays.

The Astros are entering this series off a win and completed the sweep in their 3-game series against the Miami Marlins 3-0 in their last series. They enter this game with a 49-44 record overall and have a home record of 27-19. This is the 2nd game of a 3-game series with the Rangers on Saturday with the 1st game of this series still to be played on Friday. Their offense ranks 7th in the MLB with a .744 OPS. Hunter Brown is their starting pitcher on Friday while rookie pitcher Spencer Arrighetti is making his start in this game on Saturday. He is 4-7 with a 5.96 ERA this season. His team lost their last 2 straight games this season with him making an appearance. In his last MLB regular season start, he allowed 2 earned runs, 0 homers, and 2 BB with 6 strikeouts on 7 hits through 5 innings played against the Minnesota Twins.

The current betting odds have the Rangers listed as a slight favorite 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 49-44 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 27-19 home record. Both of these teams are hot coming into this series as both are 7-3 in their last 10 games, but the Rangers have the better pitching matchup here and that will give them the advantage in this division rivalry. Eovaldi is on the mound and he has been a solid starter for the Rangers since acquiring him. He is 6-3 this season with a 3.10 ERA and the team has been finding success with him on the mound. They have won 2 games in a row with him starting, and he only gave up 2 earned runs in his last start which has been a common theme for him this year. The Astros are rolling out their rookie Arrighetti in this one and he has struggled in his 1st MLB season. He is 4-7 with a 5.96 ERA and has been giving up a lot of runs in his starts. He only gave up 2 earned runs in his last start, but that hasn't been the case in most of his starts, and the team has still lost 2 games in a row with him starting. The Astros have looked great lately since they have been cutting down the lead the Mariners have in the division, but the Rangers are still the defending World Series champions who have also looked a lot better lately and they are going to bring their best effort for Houston to try and close that gap between them. The best way to place a bet here is on the Rangers to win this game. 

Rangers Astros Prediction:  Our MLB Pick for Saturday, July 13, 2024 (4:10 pm ET start time) is Rangers 7 Astros 4.

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Texas Rangers: 12-22 (-12.55 units) on the first 5 runline in their last 34 away games. 39-30 to the under in their last 69 games. 

Houston Astros: 17-4 (+13.75 units) on the moneyline in their last 21 games. 37-22 (+15.60 units) on the runline in their last 59 games. 45-32 to the under in their last 77 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 Fri - Hip. 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.

"We played well and I thought that we got some big hits at big moments. We got pretty good pitching on the front end and the back end and basically we did exactly what we intended to do." - Joe Espada after his team’s win against the Marlins in their game on Thursday.

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 Diaz (R) DH

J Singleton (L) 1B

J Peña (R) SS

J Loperfido (L) LF

J Meyers (R) CF

T Cabbage (L) RF

C Salazar (L) C

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 (.318)

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 (17)

ERA:  Dylan Coleman (0.00)

Managers:

Texas Rangers: Bruce Bochy (2nd season)

Houston Astros: Joe Espada (1st season)