 are over .500 for the second time this season in manager Chris Woodward's managerial debut. They never had a winning record at any point last year.Rougned Odor started the seventh inning in a 4-4 game with a bunt single that was beyond the reach of lefty Framber Valdez (0-1) coming off the mound. Elvis Andrus had a double before Gallo pulled a hard one-out grounder that split between second baseman Jose Altuve and first baseman Yuli Gurriel.Shawn Kelly (2-0) threw 1 1/3 innings in his third appearance for the Rangers. Jose Leclerc worked a perfect ninth for his second save.Asdrubal Cabrera, the new Texas third baseman after Adrian Beltre retired this offseason, homered for the third time. Cabrera's two-run shot in the second tied the game at 2 against Justin Verlander.The Astros led 2-0 after a sacrifice fly in the second by George Springer, who led off the game with a single and had a stolen base before scoring on Michael Brantley's groundout.Verlander, Houston's opening day starter, didn't make it out of the fifth in his second start of the season. The right-hander allowed four runs, six hits and three walks - matching the total three batters walked by Astros pitchers over 42 innings in first five games.Verlander was gone after back-to-back RBI singles by Andrus and Nomar Mazara put the Rangers up 4-3 with no outs in the fifth. The Astros got even on Carlos Correa's RBI double in the sixth.Texas native Shelby Miller allowed 10 baserunners (five hits and five walks) and two runs over 3 2/3 innings in his debut for the Rangers. The right-hander was limited to only nine games the past two seasons with Arizona because of Tommy John surgery in May 2017.TRAINER'S ROOMAstros: RHP Lance McCullers Jr. started a light throwing program, five months after Tommy John surgery. He made 25-30 throws on flat ground from about 45 feet while playing catch with manager AJ Hinch. McCullers, who won't pitch this season, said he felt good.UP NEXTAstros: Gerrit Cole (0-1), who struck out 10 batters in six innings while losing at Tampa Bay in his first start of the season, is 3-0 with a 2.25 ERA in five career starts against Texas.Rangers: Mike Minor (0-1) becomes the first Texas pitcher to make a second start, looking to bounce back after allowing six runs over 4 2/3 innings against the Chicago Cubs in his first-ever start on opening day.---More MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
As Astros search for offense, Verlander gears up for Rangers As Astros search for offense, Verlander gears up for RangersThe Houston Astros have one of the more dangerous lineups in the major leagues. While offense can come and go -- and the Astros' bats have yet to wake up this season -- an equally dominant pitching staff is what makes this club World Series contenders.Last year, Houston's starting rotation led the majors with a 3.16 ERA.Houston's fifth starter, Brad Peacock, who spent 2018 in the bullpen, quickly showed how he can help the Astros remain ERA leaders in earning the win in Monday night's series-opening 2-1 win against the Texas Rangers.Peacock gave up just two hits over 6 2/3 innings, with no walks while striking out five. Ryan Pressly and closer Roberto Osuna were perfect in closing out the final 2 1/3 innings to snap Houston's three-game losing skid."That was a well-pitched game. All three of the guys that pitched tonight threw the ball extremely well," Astros manager A. J. Hinch said.Now the Rangers, if they're to salvage the final two games of the homestand, will have to defeat Justin Verlander on Tuesday, and then Gerrit Cole on Wednesday.The ageless Verlander, who finished second in balloting for the Cy Young Award last season, appeared to be in midseason form in the season-opener, a 5-1 win at Tampa Bay. Verlander was dominant after allowing a leadoff home run, going seven innings and allowing three hits while striking out nine and walking one."I just hit the reset button real quick," the 36-year-old Verlander said after the game. "It's not something you want to do, to lead off the year with a homer, but I've done it before, so it was 'let's go turn the page and try to find it.' "Find it, he did. After walking a batter and hitting another in the second inning, Verlander allowed one seventh-inning double and three baserunners total.The Rangers will counter Verlander with right-hander Shelby Miller, the third consecutive starter who wasn't even with the club last season. Texas has one of the oldest starting rotations in baseball, hoping a string of veterans can keep an unproven offense, one that lost retired third baseman Adrian Beltre, within striking distance.It proved a winning recipe in the latter two games against the Cubs when the Texas offense twice put together big late-game rallies and scored 20 runs in the two victories. On Monday against the Astros, starter Drew Smyly and reliever Adrian Sampson didn't have the same luck in the 2-1 loss.Miller, a Brownwood, Texas, native, was another reclamation project signing for the Rangers, along with Edinson Volquez and Lance Lynn. Miller signed a one-year deal worth $2 million, plus another $3 million in incentives.He's coming off a difficult 2018 in which he went 0-4 with a 10.69 ERA in four starts and one relief appearance with the Arizona Diamondbacks after returning from Tommy John surgery.Tuesday will mark his first start since July 11 last year, when he went on the disabled list with right elbow inflammation. He made just one relief appearance at the end of the season.--Field Level Media
Looking for More Picks?
You can browse all the individual handicapper picks below.
Houston Astros
Texas Rangers
Pick Center
MLB
FINAL (4/2/2019)
EnterTheMatrix888
