The Houston Astros and the Texas Rangers are about to finish their date in the 2023 American League Championship Series, with Game 7 scheduled for Monday night at Minute Maid Park. Perhaps there is no more interesting aspect of this matchup than a rematch between Cristian Javier and Max Scherzer. Just like in Game 3 of this series, it will be Javier and Scherzer toeing the rubber for Houston and Texas in Game 7, respectively.

Javier had a solid performance in Game 3, as he allowed two earned runs on three hits with three strikeouts in 5.2 innings of an 8-5 victory. It was the opposite for Scherzer, who lasted just four innings on the mound, as he was pulled after surrendering five earned runs on five hits with four punchouts.

The Astros have complete trust in Javier. After all, he has led them to wins in two starts thus far in the 2023 MLB postseason. In those appearances, he has given up only two earned runs on four hits, while striking out 12 hitters across 10.2 innings of mound duty. Both those starters were on the road, though, so it will be interesting to see just how well he'll manage his nerves in front of Astros fans at home. For what it's worth, Javier went 5-2 with a 3.71 ERA and 1.21 WHIP in 13 starts at home back in the regular season.

Javier is also hoping that his teammates will be able to provide a robust run support behind him, just like they did in Game 3 in which Houston scored the first five runs of the contest.