Texas Rangers Hoping For Momentum Against Astros: What To Watch For

After a thrilling final game against the Tigers, the Texas Rangers will look to continue their momentum as they visit the Astros.

The Rangers were able to pick up their first home series win of the season Wednesday when Nomar Mazara smashed a walkoff homerun in the 10th inning. Texas, who has struggled to put together any real string of momentum, will look to build on wins against Detroit as they visit the Astros this week.

Tale of the Tape

After the series win against the Tigers, the Rangers have improved their record to 15-24 on the season and trail Houston by 9 games.

Houston comes in off of a sweep of the Oakland Athletics. They currently sit mirror image of the Rangers at 24-15 and .5 game up on the second place Angels.

Friday: 7:10 CT (Cole Hamels v. Justin Verlander)

Saturday: 6:10 CT (Doug Fister v. Charlie Morton)

Sunday: 1:10 CT (Matt Moore v. Dallas Keuchel)

Can Nomar Mazara Stay Hot?

Nomar Mazara was the catalyst for the Rangers offense Wednesday smashing two homeruns including the walkoff in the 10th inning. In the month of May, Mazara has 7 homeruns in 9 games. Additionally, he’s hitting .324 this month with a .425 on-base percentage. Mazara has really stepped up this season especially considering the injuries facing this team early on. At only 23 years old, Mazara is arguably the most valuable player Texas has and is proving his abilities night in and night out.

The key now is keeping Mazara hot deep into the season. The Rangers are looking to bounce back from a rough start and a middle of the order hitter batting .300 with homerun power would be huge in driving this offense forward.

Will The Rangers Starters Match Houston?

For Texas this season, pitching has been one of the top issues preventing a string of wins. Heading to Houston, this team is facing the best rotation in baseball who have a combined 2.35 ERA, tops in the league. The Rangers on the other hand, currently sit 26th among rotations with a  5.27 ERA. The Astros rotation also leads the league in strikeouts which isn’t a great matchup for a Texas lineup that leads baseball in strikeouts.

The Rangers pitching staff will have to find a way to match the top rotation in baseball to give this team any hope of picking up a very important series win.

Let us know what you’re looking forward to in the comments below.