Rangers vs. Astros prediction and odds for Tuesday, July 25 (Target Texas as underdogs)

The Texas Rangers came up short in the opening game of a pivotal series against the Houston Astros, who are now up only two games on the defending World Series champs in the AL West.

Texas will start Yerryy Rordriguez as an opener on Tuesday, can the Rangers bullpen string together a strong pitching outing against the Astros? The team will likely count on the offense to get the better of J.P. France on Tuesday night, will that come to fruition?

Here are the odds for this massive AL West matchup:

Rangers vs. Astros odds, run line and total

Rangers vs. Astros prediction and pick

Texas has had arguably the best offense in the Major Leagues over the balance of the season, and I believe the team is ripe to chase rookie J.P. France from this one.

France has put up decent number so far, and figures to be part of Houston's postseason plans, but he is pitching far above expectation so far.

France has a 3.13 ERA through 13 starts, but his xERA is more than a run higher at 4.25, and this can be an issue against a Rangers lineup that has the best batting average in the bigs and the top wRC+, which quantifies the quality of run scoring chances.

While France has glowing strikeout numbers in the minor leagues, he has been punching out few batters so far. He is averaging about six strikeouts per nine innings thus far, a mark that isn't nearly enough against a potent Rangers lineup.

While Texas needs to piece together a strong outing from the bullpen, I believe that this price is overreacting to the team's poor bullpen metrics.

The Rangers have the fourth highest bullpen ERA as a unit, but I can't help but be concerned about France's underlying numbers heading into this matchup.

I'll trust the underdog Rangers to outperform expectations and pick up a win on Tuesday.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.