The Texas Rangers and Houston Astros will resume their Lone Star Series on Sunday at Minute Maid Park. First pitch from Houston, TX, is at 7:10 p.m. ET. The Astros are large moneyline favorites and the game total is set at 8 runs.
Texas (8-5 SU and 7-6 RL) is 5-5 in its last ten games. The Rangers will start veteran left-hander Andrew Heaney (1-1 with an 8.22 ERA in two starts) on Sunday evening.
Houston (6-8 SU and 7-7 RL) is 4-6 over its last ten. The Astros will counter with southpaw Framber Valdez (1-1 with a 1.89 ERA in three starts) tomorrow.
The Rangers won game one of the series on Friday, pulling ahead of the Los Angeles Angels for sole control of first place in the AL West. The win, which put Texas 2.5 games ahead of the Astros, was a significant one for a Rangers squad that was 5-29 in Houston since 2019.
Right fielder Adolis García hit a two-run homer in the third inning and first baseman Nathaniel Lowe had three RBI to lead Texas to a 6-3 victory.
“It's big,” Rangers starter Martín Pérez said. “Especially from last year to this year we have a better team, we're pitching better, we make plays. And if we do that every night we're going to win a lot of games.”
The Lowe Ranger SHOWING OUT in the battle for The Sliver Boot ??
@Rangers | #StraightUpTX | ??: BSSW pic.twitter.com/AjllPhwBWm— Bally Sports Southwest (@BallySportsSW) April 15, 2023
Texas scores 5.62 runs per contest (5th) and hits .247 (16th) with a .731 OPS (14th). The Rangers are 20th in MLB in long balls (15) and 27th in stolen bases (4). The TX pitching staff has compiled a 3.80 ERA (8th) and a 1.24 WHIP (9th) this year.
Sunday's starting pitcher Andrew Heaney bounced back from a disastrous first start against Baltimore (seven earned runs on seven hits in 2.2 innings) with a much better showing against Kansas City on April 10 (no earned runs on two hits and ten Ks in five innings). The 31-year-old lefty was 4-4 with a 3.10 ERA and 1.09 WHIP in 16 appearances (14 starts) as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers last season. Heaney is 3-4 with a 3.54 ERA and 64 strikeouts in 11 career starts (61.0 innings) against Houston.