Astros vs Rangers Picks and Prediction – 5/17/2025

The Houston Astros play the third game of a four-game series on the road Saturday versus the Texas Rangers. Houston is 22- 21 following its 1-0 loss to Texas in the opening game of the series on Thursday. Houston had just five hits in the loss. Hunter Brown suffered the loss after allowing one run across eight innings with 9 strikeouts, and receiving no run support from teammates. Keep up to date with all the MLB action with our MLB previews.

Jeremy Pena is batting .313 with 23 RBI and 52 hits, to lead Houston in each category. Isaac Paredes is the leader in home runs with six and on-base percentage at .377. Houston is batting .249 with a .377 slugging percentage. On Saturday, the Houston Astros will send Ronel Blanco to the mound. The right-hander is 3-3 with a 4.04 ERA, 43 Ks, and 17 BBs.

The Texas Rangers improved to 24-21 following Thursday’s one-run victory over Houston. Jacob deGrom pitched 8 innings to win for the fourth straight start. Shawn Armstrong earned his second save. Jake Burger hit a home run in the sixth inning for the Rangers. Texas has won each of its last six and has moved within a half-game of the first-place Seattle Mariners in the American League Central.

Josh Smith is batting .306 with 38 hits and an on-base percentage of .381 to lead Texas in three categories. Wyatt Langford is the leader in home runs with eight, and Adolis Garcia is the leader in RBI with 24. Texas is batting .231 with a .373 slugging percentage. On Saturday, Texas will send Tyler Mahle to the mound. The right-hander is 4-1 with a 1.47 ERA, 37 Ks, and 16 BBs. 

Texas has won each of its last six, and the Rangers are 5-0 in the last five played at home. Houston has lost four of its last five played on the road. Houston starter Ronel Blanco is coming off an excellent outing in which the right-hander allowed no runs on two hits across eight innings. Texas starter Tyler Mahle has had nine consecutive strong outings, allowing a total of 49.0 innings. Final Score Prediction: Texas Rangers win 5-2.