Texas Rangers at Houston Astros 5/15/21 - MLB Picks & Predictions

The Texas Rangers play the second game of a four-game weekend series on the road Saturday against the Houston Astros. Texas dropped to 18-21 following a 4-3 loss to Houston in the opening game of the series on Thursday. The Rangers are fourth in the American League West five games behind the first-place Oakland Athletics and have lost three straight

Isiah Kiner-Falefa is batting .284 to lead Texas and has a team-high 44 hits. Right fielder Adolis Garcia is the leader in home runs with nine and RBIs with 26. First baseman Nate Lowe is the leader in on-base percentage at .381. Texas has hit 48 home runs in its first 39 games. On Saturday, Texas will send Dane Dunning to the mound. The right-hander is 2-2 with an ERA of 3.78, 39 Ks and 10 BBs.

Houston, with its victory to open this series on Thursday, improved to 21-17. The Astros scored the winning run on a wild pitch by Myles Straw in the bottom of the 11th inning to give Houston a walk-off victory. Houston has won three straight and four of the last five. The Astros are second in the American League West 1 ½ games behind the first-place Oakland Athletics.

Left fielder Yordan Alvarez is batting .350 to lead Houston. Outfielder Kyle Tucker is the leader in home runs with eight while first baseman Yuli Gurriel is the leader in RBIs with 30, hits with 44 and on-base percentage at .411. On Saturday, the Houston Astros will send Luis Garcia to the mound. The right-hander is 0-3 with an ERA of 3.60, 35 Ks and 11 BBs.