Texas definitely intrigues at the plus price but the "under" looks hard to ignore as well. Too many very good efforts on the mound lately from both Jordan Montgomery and Justin Verlander, the latter not having a run in his last two starts. As for Montgomery, while knocked around in Game 2 at Baltimore, in his previous five outings, only 2 ER allowed in 34 IP! Clearing nine runs looks a tall order on Sunday at Minute Maid. Play Rangers-Astros Under

This has the potential to be a great pitching matchup between Justin Verlander and Jordan Montgomery. However, for as good as Montgomery has been, the Astros had a .809 OPS against left-handed pitchers during the regular season. That was the second-highest mark in baseball. The Astros also have a much better bullpen. I’m on the home team to take Game 1.

On a bit of a run in MLB ... but haven't been great on the Rangers in these playoffs. Definitely did not see them sweeping the Rays and Orioles. All the time off probably stems that momentum tide a little (look at what happened to those 100-win teams who were knocked out with too much time off) and this simply is the worst possible matchup for them. The Astros have punished the Rangers like a Step Brother who touched their drum set for years and dominated the Lone Star Series yet again in 2023. Justin Verlander only -135 at home? Yep.

Two excellent offensive teams for sure, but Jordan Montgomery (I'm presuming as he has not officially been named yet; there wouldn't be any lines up if the books weren't sure) vs. Justin Verlander and we get a total of 9? Playoff games simply are played differently from a batter-by-batter/bullpen standpoint, and these two guys have been great regardless. Some books already have dropped this to 8.5.