The Houston Astros entered the all-star break with a 7-1 record over their last eight games, opening up a 7.5-game lead over the Oakland Athletics and a nine-game lead over the Texas Rangers for the top spot in the American League West. The Astros will try to build on that lead in a four-game series on the road against the Rangers that starts on Thursday night.
Astros road favorites at Rangers on Thursday night MLB odds
The Houston Astros hope to stay hot coming out of the all-star break against the Texas Rangers as betting favorites on the MLB odds on Thursday night.
Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
Houston is a -134 road favorite on the MLB odds in Arlington at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com. Framber Valdez is expected to get the start for the Astros going up against Lance Lynn and the Rangers as +124 home underdogs.
Houston Astros at Texas Rangers
When: Thursday, July 11, 8:00 p.m. ET
Where: Globe Life Park, Arlington, Texas
Betting Line / Total: Houston -134 / 11 Runs
Houston Astros Betting Notes
The Astros have an impressive record of 57-33 coming out of the all-star break, but their home and road splits have been pretty severe so far in 2019. Houston owns the AL’s best home record at 33-14 but is just narrowly above .500 on the road with a record of 24-19 away from Minute Maid Park.
With the second half of the season starting with an eight-game road trip, the Astros would love to get on track on the road starting with a series win over the Rangers.
Since being moved into the starting rotation last month, Framber Valdez has a 6.52 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP. The Astros are 1-3 in his four starts.
Texas Rangers Betting Notes
The Rangers looked like they might be making a push for the division lead in the AL West when they won six straight games at the end of June to move to 46-36 on the year. But while the Astros were surging towards the all-star break, Texas stumbled to a 2-6 finish to the first half.
Texas has won each of the last four games that Lance Lynn has started and is 12-6 in his 18 starts this season. The veteran right-hander has a 3.91 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP with 123 strikeouts in 2019.
Astros at Rangers Betting Total
Thursday night’s total is set at 11 runs. The OVER is 13-6 in Texas’s last 19 games played in the month of July per the OddsShark MLB Database.
This will be the only game on the baseball slate on Thursday before the league moves back to a full schedule on Friday. This series will continue with probable pitching matchups of Gerrit Cole vs. Jesse Chavez on Friday, Wade Miley vs. Mike Minor on Saturday and Justin Verlander vs. Ariel Jurado on Sunday.
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