The Texas Rangers and Houston Astros start a three game series Monday night in Houston. The Astros are cruising toward the top seed in the AL playoffs with the best record in the league at 86-48 while the Rangers are out of contention in third place in the AL West at 58-75. The Astros are 12-4 against the Rangers this season. First pitch is at 7:10 p.m. at Minute Maid Park in Houston.
The wheels have come off for the Texas Rangers as of late. They have lost 8 straight games and are now tied for third place in the AL West with the Angels, 27 games behind the Astros. They got swept in four by the Red Sox over the weekend, losing on Sunday by the score of 5-2. Texas averages 4.52 runs per game, which ranks 10th in league. They are 15th in team batting average, 8th in home runs, and 12th in slugging percentage. Nathaniel Lowe leads the Rangers batting .305 with 23 home runs and 67 RBI while Corey Seager is hitting .253 with 29 home runs and 72 RBI.
Martin Perez gets the start for the Rangers on Monday. Perez has been the Rangers ace all season. The left hander is 10-5 on the season with a 2.89 ERA in 26 starts. Perez has 144 strikeouts and 54 walks in 159 innings pitched. Perez had an uncharacteristically bad start last time out, allowing 5 runs on 9 hits in 5 innings in a 5-3 loss to the Astros. Perez is 1-2 with an ERA of 4.50 and 16 strikeouts in 4 appearances against Houston this season. In his career against the Astros, he is 9-7 with an ERA of 3.35 and 76 strikeouts in 18 appearances. The Rangers have a team ERA of 4.17, which is 21st in baseball. The bullpen has an ERA of 3.77, which is 13th best in baseball.