Texas Rangers vs Houston Astros,
ALCS Game 1, Oct. 15
And then, there were four. We've reached the LCS series that feature the Diamondbacks, Phillies, Ranger and Astros. The true surprise this year, of course, is Arizona, but the remaining teams not so much. Kicking off the ALCS tonight we have the battle of Texas featuring the Rangers and Astros. In a roller-coaster season of emotions and drama, can Texas thwart the reigning MLB champion Astros?
Texas Rangers (+124) @ Houston Astros (-146) | Over/Under 8.5
Familiar foes battle with everything on the line. Houston handled Texas in the regular-season series, 9-4, including wins in seven of the final eight games. The Rangers at the time weren't clicking on all cylinders, so this is an absolute no-excuses spot for them. The big difference for Texas has been the emergence of this pitching staff behind Jordan Montgomery and Nate Eovaldi. For Houston, the top end of their lineup and pitching staff is up there with anybody else's in baseball. Who draws first blood tonight?
This will be the first time Jordan Montgomery sees the Astros in a Texas uniform. However, he did dot them as a Cardinal earlier this season for 6.2 innings of one-earned-run baseball. One of the most salivating things for this Houston lineup is when they face lefties. They've smashed a remarkable .270 average and .809 OPS against Southpaws in 2023. Monty is coming off a bad outing against the Orioles in the Divisional Series (4 IP, 4
Texas Rangers vs Houston Astros,
ALCS Game 1, Oct. 15
And then, there were four. We've reached the LCS series that feature the Diamondbacks, Phillies, Ranger and Astros. The true surprise this year, of course, is Arizona, but the remaining teams not so much. Kicking off the ALCS tonight we have the battle of Texas featuring the Rangers and Astros. In a roller-coaster season of emotions and drama, can Texas thwart the reigning MLB champion Astros?
Texas Rangers (+124) @ Houston Astros (-146) | Over/Under 8.5
Familiar foes battle with everything on the line. Houston handled Texas in the regular-season series, 9-4, including wins in seven of the final eight games. The Rangers at the time weren't clicking on all cylinders, so this is an absolute no-excuses spot for them. The big difference for Texas has been the emergence of this pitching staff behind Jordan Montgomery and Nate Eovaldi. For Houston, the top end of their lineup and pitching staff is up there with anybody else's in baseball. Who draws first blood tonight?
This will be the first time Jordan Montgomery sees the Astros in a Texas uniform. However, he did dot them as a Cardinal earlier this season for 6.2 innings of one-earned-run baseball. One of the most salivating things for this Houston lineup is when they face lefties. They've smashed a remarkable .270 average and .809 OPS against Southpaws in 2023. Monty is coming off a bad outing against the Orioles in the Divisional Series (4 IP, 4 ER). Prior to that start, J-Mont was ripping a streak of five fabulous starts, all of the quality variety, so this could be a big bounce-back opportunity. The red hot hitters he will have to keep in check are Jose Abreu and Yordan Alvarez. If that happens, he'll have an opportunity to not only give his team a chance to win, but give them some length too.
Justin Verlander will always be an enemy to me for the rest of time. He stole the 2022 AL Cy Young award to its rightful owner, Mr. Dylan Cease Daddy. Argue amongst yourselves, but that's how I see things. Also people call him "JV." Absolutely not, yours truly is the real "JV." You may remember Verlander left Houston in the offseason to join the arms race of the New York Mets, which ended up being nothing more than a popcorn fart. Despite what Mets fans might think, they fleeced Houston for their top prospect, Drew Gilbert, a guy I watched tear it up at Tennessee. The Verlander pickup for Houston has been pretty strong so far. He's got three quality starts in his last four outings, and the only one that wasn't a QS happened to be five shutout innings. He'll have to contend with a loaded and capable lineup from top to bottom that has come up in big moments lately.
This is a very difficult series to dissect, divisional opponents usually are. I mentioned a while ago how the Rangers' season was virtually saved when Josh Jung returned. Remember that stretch where they collapsed like a house of cards to the point where they almost missed the playoffs? Well, that was around the time Jung got hurt. He's the catalyst for this lineup. Now add in other rookie sensation Evan Carter. This is a special lineup, and I think they'll be able to get the best of Houston today.
Pick: Rangers ML +124
