Game Preview No. 156: The final home game (for now)

Houston Astros (81-74) vs. Texas Rangers (84-70), Sep 27, 2015 1:10 PM CDT

TV:Root Sports SW, MLB.TV
Radio: KBME 790 AM, KLAT 1010 AM
Rangers SB Nation Blog: Lone Star Ball

Pitching Matchup:

LHP Dallas Keuchel (18-8, 2.51 ERA, 1.02 WHIP) vs. LHP Martin Perez (3-5,5.21 ERA, 1.54 WHIP)

The Astros close off an impressive 2015 regular season home campaign today by going for their 53rd win, which would be good for the 3rd best home record in franchise history.

Standing in the way, however are the resurgent and AL West division leading Texas Rangers. They come into today with a 3.5 game lead over the Astros. A win today would put the Astros within striking distance of their first division title in 14 years heading into the final week of the season.

Also up in the air are several season benchmarks for Astros players.

First and foremost, Jose Altuve is nine hits away from becoming the first Astro to collect 200 hits in multiple seasons. His 2015 campaign already stands 6th on the all time Astros single season hits record with 191 knocks and six games still to be played. Not too shabby for a "down" year for Altuve.

A win this afternoon for Dallas Keuchel would place him in the Astros' top 10 single season wins list. If he can win this game and presumably his final regular season start on the road next week, he will become the 10th Astro to reach 20 wins, and the first to do it in 10 years. Not to mention 20 wins will strengthen his chance of winning the American League Cy Young Award, at least in the eyes of the more traditionalist voters.

Finally Jake Marisnick hopes to become the 12th Astro this season to reach double digit home runs. This would break the Major League record for most players on a team with 10 or more home runs, set by the 2004 Detroit Tigers. After a six home run boost yesterday, the Astros are only four home runs behind the Toronto Blue Jays for the team lead. It's an impressive feat, considering that none of the Astros players have hit more than 26.