Texas Rangers vs Houston Astros Prediction: A close one is expected

On Friday, game 4 of the American League Championship Series will take place at Globe Life Field, featuring a matchup between the Houston Astros and the Texas Rangers. Let's take a look at the matchup ahead of us and make a forecast.

The Texas Rangers are looking to take a commanding 3-1 lead in the series by winning this game. The Texas Rangers suffered their first defeat of the postseason as a direct result of the pitching performance of their starting pitchers in the game 3 loss. The Texas Rangers are currently trying to avoid suffering consecutive defeats for the first time since September 28–29 of this year. In five of their last seven games, the Rangers have still managed to score five or more runs. The Rangers are led by Josh Jung, who has 11 hits and seven runs batted in, while Adolis Garcia and Corey Seager have combined for 18 hits and ten runs batted in. The next pitcher is Andrew Heaney, who finished the season with a record of 10-6, a 4.15 earned run average (ERA), and 151 strikeouts. In his career, Heaney has pitched in the postseason and has a record of 0-0 with a 2.70 ERA and 5 strikeouts.

The Houston Astros are looking to win their next game to bring their series score to 2-2. The offense of the Houston Astros finally came to life in game 3, leading to the team's victory. They scored eight runs, which was more than they had scored in each of the first two games combined. When scoring more than four runs in a game during this postseason, the Houston Astros have a perfect 3-0 record. Additionally, the Houston Astros have a perfect record of 3-0 away from home in the postseason. The Astros are led in hits and runs batted in by Yordan Alvarez, who has 11 and 10, respectively, while Jose Abreu and Jose Altuve have combined for 13 hits and 10 RBI. The next pitcher is Jose Urquidy, who had a record of 3-3 with a 5.29 earned run average and 45 strikeouts this season. Urquidy's career playoff record is 4-2, with an earned run average of 3.64 and 42 strikeouts.

The offensive rhythm of the Houston Astros has been found, and we've seen in the past how success of this kind can carry over into subsequent situations. Despite the deficit they have created for themselves, I do not believe it is prudent to write out the Houston Astros since they have a championship-caliber group that has been here and done that many times before. In the past, Andrew Heaney has struggled when facing the Astros, as evidenced by the fact that he has allowed a batting average of.263 and an on-base percentage of.325 in 179 at-bats versus current Astros batters. Urquidy has pitched 14.2 innings since his previous loss and has only given up two runs. Give me the road team to help even things out in what is almost certainly going to be a battle to the finish.