Astros at Rangers
The Houston Astros are poised to start a new winning streak when they visit the Texas Rangers on Saturday in the second contest of a three-game series. Houston, which had its 10-game winning streak snapped Wednesday in Oakland, rolled 7-2 on Friday as the top of the order wreaked havoc on Texas pitching.
George Springer, Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman went 6-for-13 with five RBIs and three runs scored with Altuve and Bregman hitting back-to-back homers in the first inning. The Astros (13-6) lead the majors in hitting (.273) and boast an AL-best .350 on-base percentage. The Rangers (10-8) had their four-game winning streak snapped Friday and are 4-2 on their eight-game homestand as they open the season with 14 of their first 20 games at Globe Life Park - six against Houston. The Astros' Gerrit Cole takes the ball Saturday after opening 2019 with four quality starts and will oppose rookie Adrian Sampson, who was effective in relief versus Houston earlier this season but was rocked in his last outing.
TV: 8:05 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet Southwest Plus (Houston), FS Southwest (Texas)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Astros RH Gerrit Cole (1-2, 3.24 ERA) vs. Rangers RH Adrian Sampson (0-1, 5.93)
Cole has a .185 batting average against, a 0.94 WHIP and 36 strikeouts in 25 innings this season with Houston scoring 11 runs in his starts. The 28-year-old Californian has struck out 10 or more 16 times in his career, including twice this season after fanning 11 in six innings of a 3-2 victory at Seattle on Sunday. Cole allowed three runs while striking out nine in six innings of a 4-0 loss at Texas on April 3, dropping him to 3-1 with a 2.61 ERA in six starts versus the Rangers.
Sampson allowed seven runs and eight hits (two homers) in four innings of Texas' 8-7 victory versus Oakland on Sunday as he continues to fill in for the injured Edinson Volquez. Sampson pitched the final six innings of a 2-1 loss to the Astros on April 1, yielding one run and four hits in his only career appearance against Houston. The 27-year-old Washington native is relying more on his slider, telling reporters: "There was a lot of trial and error last year. I was trying to figure out what I was doing all over again. ... I would not throw it as much if I didn't trust it as much as I do."
WALK-OFFS
1. Rangers LF Joey Gallo (.246), who hit his seventh home run Friday, is 2-for-13 with two HRs and 10 strikeouts versus Cole.
2. Astros RHP Ryan Pressly hasn't yielded a run in a club-record 28 straight regular-season games.
3. Texas SS Elvis Andrus (.365) is 0-for-7 in his last two games - the first time he's gone hitless in consecutive contests this season.