This series has become decidedly higher-scoring with the last five games all reaching nine runs or more. The Scherzer vs Javier pitching matchup for the deciding Game 7 does nothing to dissuade that trend as both were hit hard earlier in this series, with that being Scherzer's only appearance in the past month. Bullpens are going to be quite busy in a game where the last run will likely decide who makes it into the World Series. Play Rangers-Astros "Over"

If it walks like a duck and sounds like a duck, it's probably a duck. Certainly in this all-Lone Star State ALCS where the visiting team has won the first six games, and the Rangers now a startling 7-0 away from home in these playoffs after last night's 9-2 win. And for the Astros, now 1-4 at home in the postseason compared to 5-0 on the road, reflective of puzzling similar inside-out home-road tendencies in the reg season. The question is with Max Scherzer on the mound for Texas, but Bruce Bochy has been mostly able to lean on his bullpen in the postseason, and Cristian Javier was hit hard by Ranger bats earlier in this series.

There's no point in fighting it any longer. The road team is the play in this series. It has won every game. The Rangers are now 7-0 on the road in the playoffs while the Astros are 1-4 at home. The Astros were 39-42 at home this series, which is in the vicinity of the Pirates and Angels. The Rangers are riding the wave of a big Game 6 while the Astros are worried about the status of setup man Bryan Abreu. The Rangers complete the job, just like the Nationals did in the 2019 World Series in Minute Maid Park.

The conditions are ripe for plenty of run scoring in Game 7 of the ALCS. So far in this series, we've seen an average of 9.5 runs per game. A compromised Max Scherzer starts in front of a very vulnerable Rangers bullpen. The Rangers started to hit Cristian Javier hard in the middle innings of Game 3 and they seem to see the ball well in Minute Maid Park. Plus, it seems like Astros setup man Bryan Abreu might be suspended and the rest of the bullpen before closer Ryan Pressly is shaky. A 5-4 game gets us a push here, but I think we get home on the over.

Game 7s are rarely high scoring because every at-bat matters so much and both bullpens will be completely emptied if need be with the season on the line. Cristian Javier has become Cy Young in the playoffs for Houston, and I'd assume Max Scherzer will be a little better in his second start back from IL but we will surely see a lot of different guys.

We finally get a winner-take-all matchup! Apparently I should be taking the Rangers because the road team is 6-0 in these playoffs, but there's a reason that away teams don't win every game of a seven-game series except for once ... and Houston actually did lose that one in the 2019 World Series to Washington. While this sounds silly, the pitching matchup tonight does favor the Astros in Cristian Javier over future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer. And we have to trust that Jose Altuve will do something heroic as he usually does.