Houston Astros (51-106) at Texas Rangers (85-71), 7:05 pm (CT)

Houston At Texas Arlington, 7:05 p.m. (CT)

TV: CSN Houston, MLB.TV
Radio: KBME 790 AM, KLAT 1010 AM
Rangers SBNation Blog: Lone Star Ball

Pitching Match

RHP Brad Peacock ( 5-5 / 5.24 ERA / 1.40 WHIP) vs. LHP Derek Holland ( 13-9 / 2.81 ERA / 1.06 WHIP)

Preview

Astros are going to lose. Goodnight. That's too harsh of course, I must admit my spirt was finally broken this season after last night's game. Each part of the team has taken a turn destroying the Astros' chances at winning through out the season. But, last night they were whipped at every aspect. Thankfully, this is baseball - today is a new day and new game.

Yu Darvish has owned the Astros this season, coming close to two perfect games in previous starts. He is 3-1 in four starts against Houston this season with a 2.73 ERA and 0.640 WHIP. Darvish has allowed a total of 11 hits and eight walks over 29.2 innings of work against the Astros. He is also sporting a 5.38 strikeout-to-walk rate. Darvish's lone poor start against Houston came in his only start in Arlington, giving up five runs over six innings.

Darvish has lost three of his last four starts this month, all be it not for a lack of trying - he allowed only 9 runs over 24 innings. He has only given up four runs over his last 19 innings. Darvish has reached the 100-pitch plato in two starts this month without recording an out past the fifth inning.

Matt Dominguez has two home runs in nine at-bats against Darvish in his career. Jose Altuve has failed to get a hit in 12 career at-bats against Darvish. Brandon Barnes has four strikeouts in six at-bats against the right-hander, and the same goes for Chris Carter. Robbie Grossman has four strikeouts in five at-bats, and Brett Wallace has six in ten at-bats against Darvish.

Brad Peacock take the mound for the Astros today, he comes into the game with wins in two of his last three games. He has a 2.89 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP in the month of September. Over his last 18.2 innings, he has 18 strikeouts. Peacock's second start after returning to the rotation in August was against the Rangers, he held Arlington to one run on three hits over six innings. Alex Rios, Mitch Moreland, and A.J. Pierzynski accounted for the three Rangers hits off Peacock. Pierzynski's hit left the yard for a solo home run.

No jinxes today. I'm going to wear my Astros cap and think positively while I watch the game.