Houston Astros vs Texas Rangers Prediction: Astros to take their chances at home

On Monday, Major League Baseball playoff action will take place at Minute Maid Park, featuring a matchup between the Houston Astros and the Texas Rangers. This will be the first game in the American League Championship Series postseason, which will consist of a best-of-seven format. Texas Rangers have been dominant in the postseason, going undefeated in their last five games and sweeping both the Tampa Bay Rays and the Baltimore Orioles on their way to the American League Championship Series. In the Division Series that Houston Astros played against Minnesota Twins, they prevailed over the Twins by a score of three games to one.

The Houston Astros finished with a regular-season record of 90-72 this year as well, and they won their division by finishing the season with a record of 9-4 against the Texas Rangers. Because of their efforts, the Houston Astros advanced to the Division Series, where they faced off against the Minnesota Twins and won the series 3-1. On Wednesday, the Houston Astros won the game by a score of 3-2, and all three runs batted in were driven in by home runs hit by Jose Abreu (two RBI; two hits) and Michael Brantley. Yordan Alvarez was also successful in getting a hit and scoring a run. In the first game of the American League Championship Series, the Houston Astros will send out Justin Verlander to the mound as their starting pitcher. In 27 regular-season starts, Verlander had a record of 13-8 and a 3.22 earned run average (ERA). Verlander has played in and started 35 playoff games throughout the course of his career, compiling a record of 17-11 with a 3.54 earned run average. The Houston Astros and the Texas Rangers have played each other a total of eight times, and the underdog has won seven of those games. Every single one of the last eight matchups between the Texas Rangers and the Houston Astros has ended with the underdog covering the run line. 

The Texas Rangers concluded the season with an overall record of 90-72, which was good enough to earn them a wild card berth against the Tampa Bay Rays. They came in second place in the American League West standings, just behind the Houston Astros, on the basis of tiebreakers. After sweeping the Tampa Bay Rays with scores of 4-0 and 7-1, the Texas Rangers advanced to the division series to take on the Baltimore Orioles. The Texas Rangers won all three games in a sweep with scores of 3-2, 11-8, and 7-1. Corey Seager, Adolis Garcia, and Nathaniel Lowe each hit a home run to help the Texas Rangers win Game 3 on Tuesday. Corey Seager drove in two runs, and Adolis Garcia and Nathaniel Lowe each drove in three runs. On Monday, the Rangers are going to go with Jordan Montgomery as their starting pitcher for the first game of the series. In 32 regular-season starts this year, Montgomery posted a record of 10-11 with a 3.20 earned run average. Montgomery's career playoff record is 1-0 with a 2.55 earned run average across four games (three starts). The Texas Rangers come into this game having dropped each of their previous 10 games at Minute Maid Park after claiming victory in one of those contests. In addition to this, the Rangers have covered the run line in each of their last ten games after a win on the road when they were underdogs. 

In spite of the fact that I will most likely go with the Houston Astros since they will be playing at home, I anticipate that this series will be quite enjoyable. Verlander, who concluded the regular season with just one earned run over 13.0 innings in two starts for the Houston Astros, went 2-0 in those two appearances; thus, the Houston Astros should get a good start from Verlander. In his first start of the series against the Minnesota Twins on October 7, Verlander led the Houston Astros to a successful outcome by pitching 6.0 scoreless innings while allowing four hits, three walks, and six strikeouts. However, Texas Rangers are not going to go out without a fight. The offense of the Texas Rangers has been fantastic so far in this postseason, scoring seven or more runs in three of their first five games and a total of 32 runs so far. However, with the home advantage and better overall performance, I think the Astros will win here, with the total going over.