Astros at Rangers
Joey Gallo looks to continue his latest power surge when the host Texas Rangers go after a second straight series victory this season against the American League West-rival Houston Astros on Sunday afternoon. The 25-year-old slugger launched his fourth homer in five games Saturday as the Rangers rolled to a 9-4 victory over the Astros to even the series after taking two of three against them to open April.
Gallo had a double and a solo home run - leaving him four shy of 100 for his career - Saturday to improve to 9-for-20 with six RBIs in his past five games, helping Texas win five of its last six while scoring 39 times in the victories. Shelby Miller will try to record his first victory since 2017 when he takes the mound for the Rangers in the finale and fellow right-hander Collin McHugh hopes to continue his strong start to the season for the Astros. Houston lost for just the second time in 13 games Saturday despite registering 11 hits in part because they went 2-for-13 with runners in scoring position and left seven on base. George Springer belted his sixth homer to take over the team lead with 17 RBIs for the Astros on Saturday, while fellow outfielder Michael Brantley added a pair of hits, extending his hitting streak to six contests (8-for-22).
TV: 3:05 p.m. ET, AT&T SportsNet - Southwest (Houston), FS Southwest (Texas)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Astros RH Collin McHugh (3-1, 1.96 ERA) vs. Rangers RH Shelby Miller (0-1, 9.00)
McHugh has strung together three straight quality starts after blanking Oakland on two hits across six innings Tuesday in a victory. The 31-year-old Illinois native, who spent last season in the bullpen, has struck out 27 batters and walked seven in 23 innings overall while not allowing more than two runs in a game. Danny Santana is 6-for-12 with a double and a homer versus McHugh, who was 1-0 over 9 2/3 scoreless innings against Texas in 2018.
Miller has yet to make it through five innings in his first three starts of 2019, but he completed a season-high 4 1/3 frames Monday while giving up four runs in a no-decision against the Los Angeles Angels. The 28-year-old Texan, who has issued 11 free passes in 10 innings, gave up two runs on six hits and five walks across 3 2/3 innings against Houston on April 2. Josh Reddick is 6-for-7 with a double against Miller, who owns a 4.66 ERA in three career games (two starts) versus the Astros.
WALK-OFFS
1. Houston 1B Yuli Gurriel is 12-for-35 with seven RBIs and four walks in his last nine games.
2. Texas SS Elvis Andrus is 0-for-9 over the last three games to drop his batting average from .403 to .355.
3. The Astros recalled Framber Valdez and optioned fellow LHP Reymin Guduan to Triple-A Round Rock on Saturday.