Houston @ Texas preview

Houston at Texas

Last Meeting ( Mar 29, 2014 ) Houston 13, Texas 6

Former MLB commissioner Bud Selig placed the Houston Astros in the American League West before last season in part to help balance out the Texas Rangers’ travel schedule. The Rangers, who open a three-game home set with the Astros on Friday, showed their appreciation by going 17-2 against the Astros to tie the major-league record for the most wins against a single opponent since the divisional era began in 1969. Texas won the final 11 meetings to improve to 36-7 against Houston since 2009.

Yu Darvish, who will take the mound in the opener, set the tone for last season’s domination when he came one out shy of tossing a perfect game in his first start versus Houston. However, Texas slugger Adrian Beltre may be forced to miss the series with a left quad strain, perhaps giving the Astros their best chance of winning their first series against Texas since 2008. Houston has struck out an AL-high 91 times already in 2014, but is tied for second in the majors with 14 homers after hitting three Thursday to avoid a three-game road sweep against the Toronto Blue Jays.

TV: 8:05 p.m. ET, CSN Houston, TXA-21 (Texas)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Astros RH Scott Feldman (2-0, 0.66 ERA) vs. Rangers RH Yu Darvish (1-0, 0.00)

Feldman, who spent his first seven major-league seasons with the Rangers, continued to make his claim as the Astros’ ace in Sunday’s 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Angels. The Hawaii native yielded one run and three hits over seven frames after holding the New York Yankees to two hits over 6 2/3 innings in his season debut on April 1. Feldman faced his former team for the first time in 2013, going 1-1 with a 5.11 ERA – once as a member of the Baltimore Orioles and once with the Chicago Cubs.

After missing an opportunity to pitch Opening Day due to neck discomfort, Darvish made history in Sunday’s season debut at Tampa Bay by becoming the fastest pitcher to record 500 career strikeouts in major-league history (401 2/3 innings). The two-time All-Star fanned six and yielded seven hits over seven scoreless frames to get the decision. Darvish, who also just missed a no-hitter in another outing versus Houston in 2013, went 3-1 with a 2.83 ERA against the Astros while holding them to a .126 average in five starts.

WALK-OFFS

1. Texas RF Alex Rios is batting .364 with a homer and six RBIs despite going hitless for the first time all season Wednesday.

2. All three of Houston 3B Matt Dominguez’s career hits off Darvish (in 11 at-bats) have been homers.

3. The Rangers promoted 3B Kevin Kouzmanoff on Wednesday to replace Beltre, who hit .361 with six home runs and 15 RBI against the Astros last season.

PREDICTION: Rangers 3, Astros 2