Astros Announce Opening Day Starter

The Texas Rangers have yet to announce who will start the Opening Night, nationally televised game against the Houston Astros on March 31 — a night before the rest of the league opens the season. We can assume it will be either Yu Darvish or Matt Harrison, with the other one being slated for the second game of the season on April 2 after the teams take April 1 off.

The Astros, however, have announced their starting pitchers for those first two games against their new AL West rivals, as it was announced Thursday that the Astros will trot Bud Norris out to the mound to face a new-look Rangers lineup.

Norris went 7-13 for the Astros last year with a 4.65 ERA, while playing in a weak National League division. That's bad news for Norris. For the second game of the series, the Astros will pitch Lucas Harrell, who went 11-11 last season with a more respectable 3.76 ERA.

Harrell went 1-1 against Texas last season with a 4.91 ERA while Norris never pitched against the Rangers in 2012.

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