It is an AL West battle as the Houston Astros face the Texas Rangers. It is time to continue our MLB odds series with an Astros-Rangers prediction, pick, and how-to-watch.

The Astros come into the game after being swept over the weekend by the Yankees. The Yankees dominated Astros pitching at the plate, and the hitting struggled for the Astros as well. With the three losses, they are still just a game behind Seattle in the AL West. At 77-61, they are also tied with the Rangers for the final two Wild Card spots, 1.5 games up on the Blue Jays.

Meanwhile, the Rangers avoided the sweep yesterday at the hands of the Twins with a ninth-inning home run.  The Rangers have lost their lead in the AL West, but are still in a Wild Card position currently.

Here are the Astros-Rangers MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel. 

MLB Odds: Astros-Rangers Odds

Houston Astros: -1.5 (+150)

Texas Rangers: +1.5 (-182)

Over: 9.5 (-108)

Under: 9.5 (-112)

How To Watch Astros vs. Rangers

TV: ATTH/BSSW

Stream: MLB.TV

Time: 4:05 PM ET/ 1:05 PM PT

*Watch MLB games LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*

Why The Astros Could Cover The Spread

The Astros scored just six runs in the three-game series with the Yankees. That is a far cry from the 52 runs they scored in the five games before that. On the season the Astros are sixth in the majors in runs scored, while sitting eighth in batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging. While they struggled against the Yankees, the Astros did have a few bats coming into this game hot. That statr with Yordan Alvarez. He is hitting .476 in the last week with a .607 on-base percentage. In the last week, he had two doubles and two home runs leading to five RBIs and three runs scored.

Meanwhile, the return of Michael Brantley to the lineup has gone well. He is hitting .250 so far in his first five games back with the squad. In that time he has hit a home run and drove in two while scoring three times. Jose Abreu continues to drive in runs as well. In his last five games, he has four RBIs with the help of two home runs. He is not hitting amazing, just a .235 batting average in the last week, but he is getting on base a lot. In the last five games, he has a .391 on-base percentage as he has walked four times in five games.

As a whole, the Astros have hit fairly well in the last week. They are hitting .282 as a team with a .353 on-base percentage. The biggest issue has been capitalizing on chances to drive runners home in the series with the Yankees. If they keep getting on base as much as they have, that should come through soon for the Astros.

The Astros send out JP France today for the start. He is 10-5 on the year with a 3.49 ERA. August was mostly good for him. While he did have a 5.92 ERA, that was because of one start. He went 3-2 on the month, and in four of the five starts he gave up two or fewer runs. Outside of the start that he gave up ten runs in 2.1 innings of work, he gave up seven runs, six earned in 22 innings. That is good for a 2.45 ERA.

Why The Rangers Could Cover The Spread

The Rangers have lost 12 of their last 16 games and often it has been the pitching that has let them down. On the year they are 15th in team ERA, eighth in WHIP, and tenth in opponent batting average. The Rangers will be sending Andrew Heaney to the mound today. He is 9-6 on the year with a 4.16 ERA. Heaney was amazing in August. He has six starts, with three of them seeing Heaney not give up a run. He went 2-0 with a 2.39 ERA on the month and never gave up more than three runs. The Rangers went 4-2 when he started games last month.

At the plate, the Rangers are third in the majors in runs scored, second in batting average, third in slugging, and third in on-base percentage. Adolis Garcia was the hero last night, hitting his 34th home run of the year and driving in his 100th RBI. He is eighth in the league in home runs and tied for second in RBIs this year. Six of those RBIs are in the last week. While Garcia is hitting just .174 in the last week, he is making the hits count. He has two home runs and a double leading to six RBIs and three runs scored.

Meanwhile, Witch Garver is hitting well. In the last week, he is hitting .333 with a .500 on-base percentage. He has hit three home runs in the last week, which has helped him drive in five runs in the last week and score five times. He and fellow catcher Jonah Heim may have the hottest bats on the team. Heim is also hitting .333 in the last week with a .368 on-base percentage. He has also driven in three runs in the last week and hit two doubles but has not scored in the last week.

As a whole, the Rangers are hitting .235 in the last week with a .320 on-base percentage. They are not capitalizing on social situations either. They have an expected runs scored in their last six games of almost 27 runs. but they have driven in just 24 in those games.

Final Astros-Rangers Prediction & Pick

Both of these teams have fallen behind in the race for the division, but are not out of it. This is the first game of the final series between these two teams. Both pitchers come into the game solid, but this is a good match-up for the Astros. In the last month, they have been one of the best teams in the majors against left-handed pitching. With how the Astros have regressed in the last month, and fallen back to the pack, that trend continues today. Take the Astros in this one and the over.

Final Astros-Rangers Prediction & Pick: Astros -1.5 (+150) and Over 9.5 (-108)