The Texas Rangers take on the Houston Astros . Check out our MLB odds series for our Rangers Astros prediction and pick.

Cole Ragans goes to the mound for the Rangers, while Cristian Javier takes the bump for the Astros.

Cole Ragans got called up in early August as the Rangers — playing out the string and having no shot at the playoffs — began their process of developing their younger arms for the 2023 season and beyond. Ragans has been ordinary in four starts. He has pitched 18 1/3 innings and allowed nine earned runs. He has not pitched more than five innings in any of his starts. The Rangers are making sure he does not overextend himself. Ragans has not pitched since Aug. 22, so he is not coming off four or five days of rest within a normal flow. That adds an element of mystery and uncertainty to this particular start.

Cristian Javier has been terrific for the Astros this season, delivering a 3.07 ERA. You won't hear too much about Javier because he's on a staff with Cy Young favorite Justin Verlander and always-consistent starter Framber Valdez, whose epic run of consecutive quality starts has made headlines this season. Lance McCullers will be in the playoff rotation. Javier is a back-end starter, and yet he's pitching to a three-run ERA and is giving the Astros everything they possibly could have hoped for, and then some. Here's an amazing fact about Javier's season: He has given up more than three earned runs in only one start since June 7. That's once in his last 14 starts. With that kind of quality and consistency, Javier is doing some very heavy lifting for this team. He is keeping the bullpen fresh for October and is advancing so many of the Astros' larger goals. He's an unsung hero of this team.

Courtesy of FanDuel, here are the Rangers-Astros MLB odds.

MLB Odds: Rangers-Astros Odds

Texas Rangers: +1.5 (+116)

Houston Astros: -1.5 (-140)

Over: 8 (-120)

Under: 8 (-102)

Why The Rangers Could Cover the Spread

Cole Ragans, with two weeks of rest since his last start, might be able to pitch deeper into this game than he normally does. Given that Houston hitters have struggled against Texas pitching in this series, Ragans should not be sold short. The Astros have scored a total of just four runs in the first two games of this series. They have not gotten big hits. They have not scored more than one run in any of the first 18 innings of this series. Texas has a real chance to hold down Houston's bats and cover the spread on the run line.

Why The Astros Could Cover the Spread

After struggling two straight games against Texas pitching, the Astros figure to have a good game at the plate. This team is too good and too talented to keep scuffling at bat against the Texas Rangers, which do not have one of the better pitching staffs in Major League Baseball. It's true that Houston is already planning for October and does not have a ton of urgency for each individual game down the stretch, but this is still a bunch of proud professionals. They're not going to quietly accept how bad they have been at the plate in the first two games of this series.

Cristian Javier is a much better pitcher than Cole Ragans. He will keep the Rangers quiet and enable the Houston offense to eventually make a big impact on this game.

Final Rangers-Astros Prediction & Pick

Javier versus Ragans is a pitching matchup Houston — and anyone hoping to bet on Houston — should love. The Astros are a relatively easy call here, coming off a loss.

Final Rangers-Astros Prediction & Pick: Astros -1.5