(Photo credit: Tim Heitman-Imagn Images)

The Houston Astros will look to build on their lead in the race for the American League West title when they face the Texas Rangers on Sunday afternoon in the finale of a key three-game series between the division rivals in Arlington, Texas.

The Rangers will send Patrick Corbin (7-9, 4.48 ERA) to the hill, while Houston will counter with fellow left-hander Framber Valdez (12-8, 3.40).

The Astros (78-65) totaled 15 hits in walloping Texas 11-0 on Saturday to even the series after the Rangers (73-70) captured the opening game 4-3 in 12 innings on Friday.

Houston held on to its 3 1/2-game lead over the Seattle Mariners in the AL West, with the Rangers dropping to five games behind the Astros and 1 1/2 games behind the second-place Mariners for the league's final wild-card spot.

Corbin will make his 27th start of the season, tying ace Jacob deGrom for the team lead. Corbin has won just once in his past nine appearances and heads into Sunday's contest off a no-decision at Arizona on Monday in which he allowed five runs on five hits -- three of them home runs-- and a walk over 5 2/3 innings. The Rangers won 7-5 in 10 innings.

Corbin has been better at home than on the road this year, producing a 3.20 ERA in 12 home starts and a 5.63 ERA away from Arlington in 14 starts.

After six seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks and six more with the Washington Nationals, he said he is delighted to be with the Rangers.

'I love the competition part of it,' Corbin said. 'The reason why I wanted to come here is to be in games like these and games that matter, and to be on a good team. It's been fun so far, and we have a long way to go.'

Corbin is 2-3 in five starts against the Astros, forging a 5.40 ERA over 30 innings. He has not faced them since 2023, when he pitched for Washington, and has not posted a win over the Astros since 2017 with the Diamondbacks.

With the significance of the division game, the Astros decided to move Valdez ahead of Luis Garcia, newly returned after more than two years off following Tommy John surgery.

Valdez last started Tuesday in a 7-1 loss to the New York Yankees. Down 1-0 in the fifth inning with the bases loaded, he appeared to shake off catcher Cesar Salazar's sign for a curveball on a 1-0 pitch to New York's Trent Grisham. Salazar waved for him to step off the mound, and Valdez then threw a sinker, which Grisham blasted for a grand slam.

The Yankees' Anthony Volpe was the next batter. With a 1-0 count, a sinker hit Salazar's chest protector, catching him off guard because he was expecting a curveball. Valdez turned his back to the plate and paused as Salazar and Volpe stared at him.

The chatter immediately started, with everyone from fans to ex-players posting their accusations online that Valdez had thrown the pitch to get back at Salazar.

Astros manager Joe Espada summoned them both to his office and said it was time to move past the incident.

'I obviously met with Salazar and Valdez once I finished talking to [the media] postgame, and I really wanted to get down to ... No. 1, [why] was he asking him to step off? I wanted to know about the thought process -- who was calling which pitch and what. I wanted to hear from both of them at the same time. I wanted to have a conversation face-to-face because I wanted to hear the truth about the whole entire thing that happened in that inning.

'I have a lot of respect for both players, and I truly believe that when we have these conversations that they're honest and I want them to tell me the truth. And I want them to tell you guys the truth once they talk to the media. I don't want to get into specifics, but I do want to say that I want to put this behind us.'

Valdez has a 9-5 record and 2.73 ERA in 19 career games (16 starts) against Texas. He has faced the Rangers twice this season, getting the 4-3 win on May 19 and taking a no-decision on July 12 in a 5-4 victory in 11 innings.

In the two starts, he threw a combined 13 innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on 10 hits and a walk. He struck out 18.

The teams will see each other again Sept. 15-17 in Houston. The Rangers have won five of the nine games thus far in the season series.--Field Level Media