Texas Rangers vs Houston Astros Prediction, Odds and Picks for Today, 05/17/26

The Texas Rangers and Houston Astros, both under .500 on the MLB’s rivalry weekend, took some heat out of the in-state battle. The Astros have been one of the worst teams in the American League with a 19-28 record, but 2 wins over their rivals this weekend have them imagining how they can get back in a weak AL West playoff race. Meanwhile, the Rangers will send Nathan Eovaldi to the mound on Sunday to attempt to salvage a win against Peter Lambert.

If Eovaldi were able to pitch every game of his career against the New York Yankees, he’d be the greatest pitcher in baseball history. The righty has historically been very good against his former team, and he continued that over the past 2 weeks with back-to-back starts against the Bronx Bombers — allowing 7 hits and 1 earned run over 15 innings. Some of the Astros’ best hitters have had some success against the righty, but he should be coming into this start with a ton of confidence.

Lambert has been pitching very well for the Astros this season with a 2.76 ERA, but his team has let him down, as his record stands at just 2-3. It has been the story of Houston’s season — they can’t figure out how to finish off a win, and even Lambert’s excellence hasn’t been able to solve it.

It’s difficult to see the Rangers losing all 3 games against the Astros with a red-hot Eovaldi on the mound.

Rangers vs Astros prediction: Texas Rangers ML (-120) available at time of publishing. Playable to that number. 

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