Houston @ Texas preview

Last Meeting ( May 22, 2016 ) Texas 9, Houston 2

Colby Lewis has been on a roll of late and has dominated the Houston Astros for much of the last six seasons. The 36-year-old looks to extend both impressive streaks on Monday as the Texas Rangers attempt to win their eighth straight contest against their visiting Lone Star State rival this season in the opener of a four-game series.

Lewis has emerged victorious in each of his last three outings overall and 10 of his last 11 decisions versus the Astros while posting a 2.50 ERA in his past 13 starts against the club. Texas, which has won 12 of its last 15 contests, outscored Seattle by a 20-9 margin to complete a three-game sweep over the weekend. Houston also is riding high off a sweep and has won eight of its last nine games to remain within shouting distance of the American League West-leading Rangers. Evan Gattis went deep in all three contests versus the Mariners over the weekend and is 7-for-22 (.318) with four homers and nine RBIs in his last five games.

TV: 8:05 p.m. ET, ROOT (Houston), FSN Southwest (Texas)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Astros RH Mike Fiers (3-3, 4.84 ERA) vs. Rangers RH Colby Lewis (5-0, 3.09)

Fiers saw his winless stretch reach four outings on Wednesday despite allowing just one run and four hits in six innings of a no-decision against Arizona. The 30-year-old also pitched well in his first career start versus Texas on May 21, permitting two runs in seven frames of a hard-luck 2-1 loss. Adrian Beltre looks to rebound from an 0-for-8 performance with three strikeouts over his last two games versus Fiers, against whom he is 3-for-6 this season.

Lewis scattered two hits over six scoreless innings in Tuesday's 7-3 triumph against Cleveland to improve to 3-0 with a pair of dominating outings in his last three starts. The veteran hurler overcame a six-run performance to emerge victorious in his last home contest on May 25 and improve to 2-0 at Globe Life Park this season. Lewis' secret to success of late has been his ability to keep the ball in the park, having done so in each of his last three starts after surrendering eight homers in his previous six outings.

WALK-OFFS

1. Texas 2B Jurickson Profar, who is 16-for-41 (.390), has hit safely in all nine games he's played this season.

2. Houston 2B Jose Altuve is riding an 11-game hitting streak but is just 4-for-22 (.182) versus the Rangers in 2016.

3. Texas already has swept the Astros on two occasions this season, outscoring them by a 29-14 margin.

PREDICTION: Rangers 4, Astros 3