Back Rangers To Head Home Up 2-0

Rangers vs. Astros, 4:37 ET

On Saturday I provided a preview of what to expect in these Championship Series games. I mentioned that I liked the Astros to win the series, but Texas clearly doesn't plan to go down without a fight and came out yesterday in the series opener and took one away from the Astros in Houston. With a ticket on the Astros to return to the World Series, I'm not yet panicked. But, how should we play tonight's Game 2 between the Rangers and Astros?

The Rangers didn't win with force or a dominant offense last night. That has been their calling card for much of the season. Instead, last night, the story of the game was how well their pitching performed. Jordan Montgomery went toe-to-toe with Justin Verlander and came out the victor going 6.1 innings and allowing no earned runs. The bullpen covered another 2.2 innings and didn't allow a single hit in that time. The Rangers bullpen isn't one that I've felt very comfortable with, but in the playoffs, they've been pretty solid. It also helped that last night there was a baserunning gaffe by Jose Altuve to allow a potential threat to be turned into a double play, but sometimes it is good to be lucky. Tonight they have their defacto Ace, Nathan Eovaldi, on the hill in hopes of going back to Arlington up 2-0 on the defending World Series Champions. Eovaldi is a very capable pitcher and has been outstanding in the playoffs allowing just two earned runs over 13.2 innings. Most impressive for me, so far, has been his command. He hasn't issued a walk this postseason. He has faced the Astros twice this season with drastically different results. He went seven innings and allowed two hits and four walks in one game which he allowed no earned runs. The other he went just 1.1 inning (his return from the injured list) and allowed five hits, one walk, and four earned runs.

HOUSTON, TEXAS - MAY 15: Framber Valdez #59 of the Houston Astros delivers a pitch during the first inning against the Chicago Cubs at Minute Maid Park on May 15, 2023 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)

The Astros know this is an important game to win, but I'm not sure they are overly concerned either. Being a champion twice in he last five years provides a bit of comfort (and, yes, they are still champions even though they cheated to get there). The Rangers are unbelievably hot right now and haven't lost a game yet this year and have their best pitcher going. What can the Astros do to slow them down? It wasn't a bad game from Houston in the opener, it just didn't go their way. If Alex Bregman hits the ball 10 feet to the left, the game is tied. He didn't, and that was the play where Altuve was doubled up. So now they need to get something going against Eovaldi who has been super sharp. To try and shut down the Rangers offense is Framber Valdez. Valdez is normally one of the more reliable starters in baseball, but this season not so much. He was still good, don't get me wrong, but his quality starts were mixed in with a stinker about once a month. His playoff opener for the Astros went very poorly as he allowed five earned runs on seven hist over 4.1 innings to the Twins in the only game the Astros lost last series. This season, he has faced the Rangers three times and the Astros are just 1-2 in those games. He went six innings the first time and allowed five runs, but just one earned. The next game, he allowed six earned over 3.2 innings. Finally, the last time they faced in the regular season, he allowed just one earned run over seven innings.

It has been a bit of a mixed bag for both pitchers in this matchup tonight, but I think the best bet here has to be to play the Rangers to win this game. They are on a monster roll right now and Valdez just hasn't been that good. The other thing you might consider playing is the over. Typically playoff games are low scoring, but we could see some offensive explosions in this series. I'll stick with the Rangers to win as my best bet for this one though.

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