T.M. Selection: Houston Astros -1.5.

I like the Houston Astros runline in this game against the Texas Rangers on Friday. The Astros have looked great in their games lately. They have gone on a big run where they have only lost a few games during that time but a majority of their wins have been by 2+ runs. They are scoring a lot of runs in their games and hitting the ball really well, I think that they can take this game in their own ballpark and I expect them to be motivated here considering the Texas rivalry between these 2 teams. The Rangers just swept the Angels in 3 games but they were starting to slip in their series before against the Red Sox. They have already lost the 1st game of this series and I see this game going the same way since the Astros have really gotten into a groove now. Cristian Javier (2-1, 3.20 ERA) is up for the Astros here and he hasn't had many starts this year but has had a majority of his appearances in games out of the bullpen and he has been pretty good this year. He has only given up 2 runs total in 6 games he has played in but it was his most recent start that he didn't look good at all in and gave up 7 runs in less than 4 innings of that game. He has been really good this year overall though and I think he is going to bounce back with a better performance here. Martin Perez (2-2, 2.01 ERA) is up for the Rangers here and he has looked great all year in his 7 starts, giving up 3 runs each in his 1st 2 starts of the year and giving up no more than 1 in his 5 starts after that. I think he has been pitching great this year but he hasn't had a bad game yet and I think there is 1 brewing for him here. He faced the Astros earlier this year already but they weren't as hot as they are now and I think he is running into them at the wrong time here. I expect the Astros to stay hot here and continue posting big numbers in their games. I like the Astros runline here.

T.M. Prediction: 6-2 Astros.