Thursday Houston Astros vs. Texas Rangers Preview
The “Lone Star Series” picks back up Thursday night from the beautiful Ballpark in Arlington when the Houston Astros (29-34, -$400) and Texas Rangers (37-27, +$1213) lock horns for their sixth and final MLB betting match-up of the 2009 season.
Last night was supposed to be all about Catcher Ivan Rodriguez who broke Carlton Fisk’s record for the most games caught (2,227), but the Rangers took advantage of three Astros errors and got the best of Houston for the fifth time this season.
David Murphy’s one-out RBI single in the bottom of the 10th inning handed the visitors their second loss in a row. The defeat was Houston’s fifth in its L/10 games played, and they currently own a 13-16 overall mark as a visitor that’s cost their baseball betting backers $85 on the year. At five games under .500, Manager Cecil Cooper’s club sits 6.5-games off the pace set by the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central Division.
As for Texas, last night’s extra inning victory improved their mark to 22-13 at home where they’ve lined MLB bettors pockets with a shade under $700 on the year (+$684). Even though the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are red hot, the Rangers are the team to catch in the AL West currently holding a two-game lead within the division. Houston has been swept in a three-game series three times this season, while the Rangers have busted out the brooms four times. The Astros are 3-3 off a loss in a series finale, while the Rangers are 6-3 in Game 3 of a set coming off a victory the previous day.
Vicente Padilla and the Rangers currently sit as lofty -170 home favorites against Brandon Backe and the Astros with the game ‘total’ set at 10.5 over -120 per current Bookmaker MLB odds.
Brandon Backe will make his season debut as a starter for the Astros after Mike Hampton pulled up lame in his last start and was forced to go on the DL. He’s been in the bullpen to this point of the season and has thrown nine innings and allowed nine hits and 12 runs. He had a rough go of it last year going 9-14 with a 6.05 ERA in 31 overall starts. He hasn’t lived up to the gargantuan contract he signed after the teams World Series appearance back in ’05. In his career against Texas, the right-hander is 1-2 with a 7.77 ERA in six career games (3 starts).
Opposing the Astros enigmatic starter will be the Rangers Vicente Padilla. The righty has really stepped his game up huge since being placed on waivers after plunking a number of Yankees back on June 2nd. Since that disaster of an outing, Padilla has beaten two of the better teams in baseball (Angels, Red Sox) his last two starts. That said; he’s been at his worst at home where his ERA balloons to 5.73 and his WHIP to 1.76. He’s also surrendered 45 hits in just 33 total innings of work and sports a K/BB ratio of 19/13. Those numbers get even worse when he goes at it under the lights (7.77 ERA, 33 hits & 21 ER’s in 24.1 IP’s). He’s 2-3 in seven career starts against the Astros with a 4.68 ERA and 1.35 WHIP.
Houston’s 0-2 as an underdog in the +150 to +175 range this season, and they’ve lost all five Interleague games this and are 16-25 vs. the AL the L/3 years. The Astros are 5-12 in Backe’s L/17 road starts. Texas is 16-7 against teams with a losing record, and it’s 6-1 in Padilla’s L/7 Interleague starts.
Can Houston snap its five-game losing streak against Texas, or will the Rangers bust out the brooms for the fifth time this season.
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