Series Thread: Rangers Travel to Houston for Three Games with the Astros July 24-26

[saddles]

Series Preview From SBNation​

Houston and Texas have already played four times in Arlington and three times at MMP, with the Astros holding a four-games-to-three edge. After this set, the two will play another three back in Arlington from September 4 through September 6.


The last time these two played, fireworks were a day early. The Astros came away with a 12-11 victory in a real barn-burner on July 3. Chas McCormick (13), Yainer Diaz (8), Kyle Tucker (13) and José Abreu (7) all went deep. Tucker finished the game four-for-four, while Abreu, McCormick, and Corey Julks had two hits each. Cristian Javier earned no-decision after allowing eight runs on nine hits over 4 1⁄3 innings. Bryan Abreu (3-2, 2.93) earned the win, and Ryan Pressly (18) earned a save with a perfect ninth.

Houston comes into the series as winners of three-of-four on the road against the Oakland Athletics. They won six games through their just-concluded nine-game roadtrip. In the series finale, on Saturday afternoon, Houston waited until late in the game to pull things out, winning 3-2. Yainer Diaz clocked a solo shot in the fifth, and Mauricio Dubón put it away with a ninth inning tater. Diaz led Houston’s offense with a pair of hits, as the team combined for five in total. Hunter Brown was good-not-great, racking up a Quality Start by allowing two runs over six innings, on six hits and a pair of walks. He struck out four. Héctor Neris (6-2, 1.48) got the win, while Bryan Abreu (3) earned a save with a perfect ninth.

The Rangers just completed a nine-game homestand, winning seven of them. They swept the Guardians and the Rays before losing twice to the Dodgers. Texas defeated Los Angeles in the series finale yesterday by an 8-4 final score. Martín Pérez (8-3, 4.91) earned the win, striking out six over as many innings. He gave up four runs on six hits and two walks. Texas’ offense was led by two hits each from Ezequiel Duran and Brad Miller.

Houston is 127-133 in regular season head-to-head play against the rangers. Texas is the only AL West team the Astros have a losing record against. Houston is 344-246 against the other three teams in the division. Houston and Texas have yet to meet each other in postseason play.


Standings


Houston Astros: 56-44, .560, second place in the AL West, three games behind the division leading rangers. Fourth in the AL, in the second wildcard spot, sixth in MLB. On pace for 91-73. Last 10: LWLWLWWWLW. Playoff Odds: 69.8 percent.


Texas Rangers: 59-41, .590, leading the AL West. Third in the AL, fourth in MLB. On pace for 96-66. Last 10: LWWWWWWLLW. Playoff Odds: 97.5 percent.


Gametime and Starting Pitchers


Monday at 7:10 PM CT — Jon Gray (6-5, 3.31) vs. Brandon Bielak (5-5, 3.46)
Tuesday at 7:10 PM CT — TBD vs. JP Grace (5-3, 3.13)
Wednesday at 7:10 PM CT — Andrew Heaney (6-6 4.58) vs. Framber Valdez (8-6, 2.94)


Team Leaders


AVG — Kyle Tucker .302, Nathaniel Lowe .284, Leody Tavares .283, Jonah Heim .282, Josh Jung .273


OBP — Kyle Tucker .379, Nathaniel Lowe .373, Alex Bregman .343, Marcus Semien .338, Jonah Heim .336


SLG — Kyle Tucker .514, Adolis Garcia .512, Jonah Heim .486, Josh Jung .483, Leody Taveras .459


OPS — Kyle Tucker .893, Adolis Garcia .847, Jonah Heim .822, Nathaniel Lowe .821, Josh Jung .808

BB — Nathaniel Lowe 54, Alex Bregman 53, Kyle Tucker 46, Marcus Semien 44, Adolis Garcia 40


HR — Adolis Garcia 24, Josh Jung 19, Yordan Alvarez & Kyle Tucker 17, Alex Bregman 16


RBI — Adolis Garcia 80, Jonah Heim 69, Kyle Tucker 68, Alex Bregman 63, Marcus Semien 61


SB — Kyle Tucker 18, Travis Jankowski & Corey Julks 15, Chas McCormick 11, Leody Taveras 10


Wins — Nathan Eovaldi 11, Dane Dunning & Framber Valdez 8, Cristian Javier 7, Hunter Brown, Andrew Heaney, Jon Gray, & Héctor Neris 6


IP — Nathan Eovaldi 123 2⁄3, Framber Valdez 122 1/3, Hunter Brown 105 1/3, Jon Gray 103 1⁄3, Martin Perez 102 2⁄3


ERA — Nathan Eovaldi 2.69, Framber Valdez 2.94, Dane Dunning 3.18, Jon Gray 3.31, Hunter Brown 4.19, Cristian Javier 4.32


WHIP — Nathan Eovaldi 1.01, Framber Valdez 1.10, Dane Dunning 1.17, Jon Gray 1.19, Cristian Javier 1.22


SO — Framber Valdez 133, Hunter Brown 122, Nathan Eovaldi 111, Andrew Heaney 100, Cristian Javier 94

 

[saddles]

 

[scotsman#1948]

sorry to see Taylor leave but he just never could get his head straight and that effected his pitching

 

[saddles]

 

[scotsman1948]

Another solid looking pitcher

 

[armadillooutlaw]

sorry to see Taylor leave but he just never could get his head straight and that effected his pitching

His downfall was pretty surprising considering his numbers as a reliever in 2021 and 2022 were pretty solid.

 

[saddles]

His downfall was pretty surprising considering his numbers as a reliever in 2021 and 2022 were pretty solid.

To be fair, he wasn't given nearly as many chances after his downfall as some relievers and one starter I know of.

 

[armadillooutlaw]

To be fair, he wasn't given nearly as many chances after his downfall as some relievers and one starter I know of.

Would have rather given him some of the opportunities to work through it afforded guys like LeClerc and Hernandez.

 

[scotsman1948]

His downfall was pretty surprising considering his numbers as a reliever in 2021 and 2022 were pretty solid.

Not sure I would use the word “solid” to describe his performances in those 2 seasons. Maybe erratically useable and then his 4 appearances in 2023 weren’t even useable

 

[scotsman1948]

To be fair, he wasn't given nearly as many chances after his downfall as some relievers and one starter I know of.

Probably true as far as the starter you mentioned but his appearances got erratically worse as he appeared. I think they thought that by sending him down he’d get his act together and come back strong he didn’t

 

[scotsman1948]

Would have rather given him some of the opportunities to work through it afforded guys like LeClerc and Hernandez.

Both of them got sent down and seemed to get their acts together and were brought back up. Hernandez came back up and reverted back and got sent back down and even isn’t being considered as a call up. Leclerc has been okay but just when you think he’s got a handle on it he falters. If they do trade for a reliever or 2, Leclerc will probably be the 1st sent down. Hell both could be DFA’ed to clear space. And so could Howard

 

[BULLPEN FAILURE]

His downfall was pretty surprising considering his numbers as a reliever in 2021 and 2022 were pretty solid.

he was never really that good. he had some flashes of greatness but he was never consistent, and his stat lines are pretty ugly. I wish him all the best, but the Rangers are 100% correct to move on from him.

 

[Kelleyman]

Well if they called one a strike the score could have been different but the As had their chances

 

[Kelleyman]

Rangers were far from unfair to Hearn
Not sure they have really been unfair to Huff as well but yeah he has not had aa many opportunities as Hearn has had

 

[Kelleyman]

 

[saddles]

 

[gregrey972]

Have we gutted our farm system for Ohtani yet?

 

[saddles]

Rangers were far from unfair to Hearn
Not sure they have really been unfair to Huff as well but yeah he has not had aa many opportunities as Hearn has had

It isn't about being fair or unfair. It does make one scratch their head when some guys get way more chances than others. To me it is more like, "why don't they DFA those 2 or 3 guys if they get rid of the other guy." Not necessarily that Hearn should still be here, but that why didn't others precede him.

Huff's situation is another matter entirely, apples and oranges. The way they have handled Huff borders on stupidity. And that has reached new heights this year. He should not be up here right now

 

[saddles]

 

[saddles]