Texas Rangers at Houston Astros 5/20/22 - MLB Picks & Predictions

By: Lance |

Last Updated: 05/19/2022 at 10:32 PM ET

The Texas Rangers will continue their series at Minute Maid Park against the Houston Astros. The Rangers came into this series hot with four straight wins capped off with a 6-5 win over the Angels in extra innings to complete the sweep and improve to 17-19 on the year. Houston lost two of three to the Red Sox but remains one of the better teams in baseball and in the lead of the AL West at 24-14.

Houston is continuing the success they’ve had over the last half-decade and is 6th in the MLB in OPS and 11th in scoring offense averaging 4.42 runs per game. It’s a stacked lineup from top to bottom but Yordon Alvarez continues his electrifying start to his young career, he’s second in the MLB with 12 homeruns and has drastically improved his walk numbers this season. 

Cristian Javier will get the start for the Astros and hoping to bounce back after a brutal outing his last time out. Javier allowed seven runs on eight hits in just 3.2 innings of work, he’s been solid this season working out of the bullpen and on the back end of the rotation posting a 3.20 ERA in 25.1 innings of work. Despite the struggles with control in his last start, he’s on pace for a career-high in K/BB – striking out 3.3 batters for every walk.

The Rangers have rattled off four straight wins but remain in the bottom half of offenses in the MLB averaging 4.28 runs per game and hitting .222 as a team, ranking 22nd and 26th in the league. Texas added Corey Seager from the Dodgers to anchor the center of the infield, he’s started sluggishly by his standards but leads the team hitting .244 with 8 homeruns.

Martin Perez will get the start for the Rangers and look to continue his strong start to the season. Perez is 2-2 but is 6th in the MLB in ERA (2.01) and 16th in WHIP (1.02). He’s coming off a strong outing against the Red Sox allowing a run on five hits, striking out seven, and earning the win in 6 innings of work.

On paper, the Astros are a far better team than the Rangers, but I like the underdog in this matchup. Martin Perez is having a great season and despite the Rangers bats struggling across the entirety of the season, they’re averaging 7.5 runs per game in their four-game win streak. Texas’ bats are able to stay hot and Cristian Javier struggles for the second straight outing as the Rangers upset the Astros on the road. Final score prediction, Texas Rangers win 5-4.

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