BROWN VS. HEANEY
Houston Astros eye critical wins in clash with Rangers
Aug 5, 2024, 12:42 pm
Hunter Brown takes the ball for Houston Monday night. Photo by Ed Zurga/Getty Images.
Houston Astros (57-54, second in the AL West) vs. Texas Rangers (53-59, third in the AL West)
Arlington, Texas; Monday, 8:05 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Astros: Hunter Brown (9-7, 4.11 ERA, 1.40 WHIP, 126 strikeouts); Rangers: Andrew Heaney (4-11, 4.12 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 107 strikeouts)
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK: LINE Astros -125, Rangers +106; over/under is 8 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Texas Rangers host the Houston Astros to start a three-game series.
Texas has gone 30-25 at home and 53-59 overall. The Rangers are 38-19 in games when they record eight or more hits.
Houston is 57-54 overall and 25-28 in road games. The Astros are 43-5 in games when they scored at least five runs.
The teams meet Monday for the 11th time this season. The season series is tied 5-5.
TOP PERFORMERS: Josh Smith has a .279 batting average to lead the Rangers, and has 20 doubles, a triple and 11 home runs. Corey Seager is 14-for-41 with three home runs and five RBI over the last 10 games.
Yordan Alvarez has 26 doubles, two triples and 20 home runs while hitting .301 for the Astros. Yainer Diaz is 17-for-39 with four doubles, a triple and two home runs over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Rangers: 3-7, .236 batting average, 6.76 ERA, outscored by 28 runs
Astros: 5-5, .243 batting average, 3.50 ERA, outscored by one run
INJURIES: Rangers: Jake Latz: 15-Day IL (forearm), Max Scherzer: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Evan Carter: 60-Day IL (lumbar), Jon Gray: 15-Day IL (groin), Cole Winn: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Tyler Mahle: 60-Day IL (elbow), Jacob deGrom: 60-Day IL (elbow), Carson Coleman: 60-Day IL (elbow)
Astros: Kyle Tucker: 60-Day IL (shin), Justin Verlander: 15-Day IL (neck), Cristian Javier: 60-Day IL (forearm), Jose Urquidy: 60-Day IL (forearm), Oliver Ortega: 60-Day IL (elbow), Bennett Sousa: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Penn Murfee: 60-Day IL (elbow), Luis Garcia: 60-Day IL (elbow), Lance McCullers Jr.: 60-Day IL (elbow), Kendall Graveman: 60-Day IL (elbow)
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Jose Altuve and Jeremy Peña homered as the Houston Astros improved to 7-0 in games started by Yusei Kikuchi by beating the scuffling Arizona Diamondbacks 11-5 on Saturday.
Altuve had three hits and scored three times. Peña’s 15th homer was a three-run shot, capping a five-run sixth inning that started with the Astros clinging to a one-run lead.
Houston entered with a 4 1/2-game lead in the AL West over Seattle.
Arizona, which has dropped three straight and seven of 10, began the day leading the Braves and Mets by 1 1/2 games for the second National League wild card.
Kikuchi (8-9) allowed four runs and seven hits over six innings. He struck out six, giving him a career-high 183 strikeouts this season.
The left-hander has a 3.07 ERA since joining the Astros in a trade from the Toronto Blue Jays on July 29, with a 32.1% strikeout rate.
Kevin Newman homered off Kikuchi in the fourth to put Arizona up 3-1, but Houston rallied for four runs against Eduardo Rodriguez in the bottom half.
Rodriguez (2-2) faced 10 batters and needed 47 pitches to get through the inning. Houston loaded the bases without a hit, and Chas McCormick tied the game with a two-run single. Yordan Alvarez’s two-out RBI single put the Astros on top and, after an error, Alex Bregman capped the flurry with a bases-loaded walk.
Alvarez finished with three hits and is batting .410 with 13 RBIs over his last 10 games.
Eugenio Suárez hit his 25th homer in the sixth to bring Arizona within a run, but the Astros broke open the game with the help of Peña’s three-run drive into the Astros’ bullpen in right-center field.
Dylan Floro was charged with all five Houston runs in the sixth.
Rodriguez gave up five runs, four earned, and seven hits over four innings with one strikeout.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Diamondbacks: C José Herrera returned to the lineup after he was removed from Friday’s game when he was hit on the back of the helmet by Kyle Tucker’s follow-through on a strikeout.
Astros: After returning from a 79-game absence Friday due to a fractured right shin, RF Kyle Tucker did not start but was available off the bench. ... INF Mauricio Dubón is dealing with a sore left thumb, which forced him out of Friday’s game after he jammed it diving into first base.
UP NEXT
Houston RHP Justin Verlander (3-5, 4.52 ERA) opposes RHP Ryne Nelson (10-6, 4.15) when the series concludes Sunday night.