Houston Astros Look to Regain Control of Silver Boot

The Lone Star Series will begin another chapter as the Houston Astros play host to the Texas Rangers in a three game series over the weekend.

The Silver Boot is awarded to the winner of the six game series each year. Historically, the Rangers hold the advantage over the Astros with five series wins to the Astros three.

However, the Astros own the all time series 25-23. Neither team has been swept by the other nor has there been a series won five games to one.

In order to win the first round of the Lone Star Series, the Astros will need solid pitching to slow down the Rangers' hot bats. The Rangers have won twelve of their last seventeen, including a seven game win-streak from May 10-17. They will come to Houston however after being swept in a three game series at Detroit.

The Astros will send Felipe Paulino (1-3, 6.93 ERA) to the mound against the Rangers' Derek Holland (1-1, 4.85 ERA) in game one. Paulino will need to have a much better outing to give the Astros a chance to win. In his May 12 outing, he gave up seven earned runs on seven hits in only four innings.

Pitching will be key this weekend, as the Rangers average close to six runs a game, good for 8th in the MLB. On the other side of the ball, the Astros team ERA is a dismal 4.66. The Astros starting pitching will need to be solid in order to keep the bullpen fresh and out of a blowout situation.

Offensively, the Astros will need to score more runs than usual due to the explosive power of the Rangers's lineup. Look for Astros' 1B Lance Berkman to come out of his hitting struggles as he has hit safely in four out of his last five games.

First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 p.m.