Coming off the first series loss of the season against the Oakland Athletics, the Texas Rangers head to Houston, Texas, to face off against the Astros for the second Silver Boot series of the season. The Texas Rangers head into this series with a record of 7-6, and the Houston Astros come in at 4-10. The American League West division race is currently a Texas sandwich, with the Rangers currently leading the division while Houston sits at the bottom. The all-time Silver Boot Series stands at 140-137 in favor of the Rangers while the current season’s record stands tied.
Texas Rangers (7-6) vs. Houston Astros (4-10)
Game 1:
Date: Friday, April 12th
Time: 8:10 pm CDT
Broadcast: BSSW, MLBNetwork, 105.3 The Fan
Game 2:
Date: Saturday, April 13th
Time: 3:05 pm CDT
Broadcast: BSSW, FS1, 105.3 The Fan
Game 3:
Date: Sunday, April 14th
Time: 1:10 pm CDT
Broadcast: BSSW, 105.3 The Fan
Probable Starting Pitchers
Game 1: Dane Dunning (1-1, 4.15 ERA) vs. J.P. France (0-1, 4.76 ERA)
Dane Dunning has made two starts for the Rangers this season. He has allowed seven hits, six earned runs, three home runs, seven walks, and 14 strikeouts across 13.0 innings. In his four-year career with the Rangers, he has made 97 starts, 82 of which were starts, allowing 454 hits, 220 runs, 212 earned runs, 56 home runs, 167 walks, and 405 strikeouts across 456.2 innings.
J.P. France has two starts for the 2024 season, allowing 14 hits, six earned runs, three walks, and nine strikeouts across 11.1 innings. In his two-year career with the Houston Astros, France has appeared in 26 games, all starts, allowing 152 hits, 70 runs, 64 earned runs, 19 home runs, 50 walks, and 110 strikeouts across 147.2 innings.
Game 2: Andrew Heaney (0-2, 7.56 ERA) vs. Ronel Blanco (2-0, 0.00 ERA)
Andrew Heaney has made two starts this season, allowing eight hits, nine runs, seven earned runs, one home run, three walks, and nine strikeouts across 8.1 innings. In his two-year career with the Rangers, he has made 36 appearances, 30 of which have been starts, allowing 151 hits, 83 runs, 75 earned runs, 24 home runs, 63 walks, and recorded 160 strikeouts across 155.2 innings.
Ronel Blanco has made two starts this season, the first a no-hitter against the Toronto Blue Jays and the second a one-hit win over the defending champions. He has allowed a single hit, six walks, and 11 strikeouts in those two games. In his three-year career in Houston, Blanco has made 26 appearances, nine of which were starts. He allowed 58 hits, 34 runs, 31 earned runs, 13 home runs, 38 walks, and 70 strikeouts across 73.1 innings.
Game 3: Nathan Eovaldi (1-0, 1.45 ERA) vs. Christian Javier (1-0, 1.10 ERA)
Nathan Eovaldi has made three starts in the 2024 season. He has recorded 18.2 innings in those three starts, allowing 11 hits, three runs, three earned runs, one home run, four walks, and 19 strikeouts. In his two-year career with the Rangers, he has pitched in 28 games for a total of 162.2 innings, allowing 128 hits, 62 runs, 61 earned runs, 16 home runs, 51 walks, and striking out 151 batters.
Christian Javier has made three starts this season in an Astros uniform. He has pitched 16.1 innings, allowing ten hits, three runs, two earned runs, no home runs, nine walks and striking out 13. In his five-year career with the Houston Astros, Javier has appeared in a total of 112 games, 78 of which have been starts. He has six holds, two saves, and four save opportunities. He has allowed 345 hits, 194 runs, 187 earned runs, 69 home runs, 194 walks, one intentional walk, and 550 strikeouts across 482.2 innings.
Texas Rangers vs Houston Astros Leaders
Rangers:
AVG – Corey Seager – .311
HR – Adolis Garcia – 4
RBI – Adolis Garcia – 13
IP – Cody Bradford – 19.1
ERA – Cody Bradford – 1.40
K – Nathan Eovaldi – 19
Astros:
AVG – Jose Altuve – .370
HR – Yordan Alvarez – 4
RBI – Yordan Alvarez – 12
IP – Christian Javier – 16.1
ERA – Ronel Blanco – 0.00
K – Christian Javier – 13
Texas Rangers vs Houston Astros Numbers
Rangers
AVG: .266 (T-4th)
OPS: .761 (T-6th)
R: 67 (9th)
HR: 12 (T-17th)
ERA: 3.08 (6th)
K: 118 (6th)
WHIP: 1.09 (2nd)
Astros
AVG: .266 (T-4th)
OPS: .7651 (9th)
R: 55 (T-15th)
HR: 17 (3rd)
ERA: 5.09 (28th)
K: 100 (19th)
WHIP: 1.52 (27th)
Wrap Up
This series is bound to be just as exciting as the last. Upon the conclusion of this series, the Texas Rangers will head to Detroit to face the Detroit Tigers in a four-game series at Comerica Park. The Houston Astros will remain in Houston to host the Atlanta Braves for a three-game series. Following the series with Detroit, the Rangers will meet the Braves in Atlanta while Houston travels to our nation’s capitol to face off against the Washington Nationals. In the meantime, as the great Chuck Morgan says, “It’s Baseball Time in Texas!”
