(Sports Network) - Winners of three of their last four outings, the Texas Rangers continue their Lone Star State battle and interleague slate with the second of three against the Houston Astros at Rangers Ballpark tonight.

The recent success has drawn the Rangers to within 3 1/2 games of first place in the AL West, thanks in large part to Josh Hamilton on Friday night as the club crushed Houston by a score of 16-8 in the opener.

Hamilton was a perfect 5-of-5 at the plate for Texas, belting a pair of home runs, knocking in five and scoring four times himself as he fell a double short of hitting for the cycle.

Michael Young and David Murphy both hit homers and drove in three runs for the Rangers, while Jarrod Saltalamacchia and Chris Shelton each added solo home runs for Texas.

Although he failed to factor into the decision, starter Sidney Ponson went five innings, giving up seven runs -- just three earned -- on nine hits. Jamey Wright pitched a perfect seventh inning to earn the win in the blowout.

Darin Erstad had a couple of doubles to go with his two RBI for Houston, which saw its two-game win streak snapped. Carlos Lee and Kazuo Matsui each collected two hits in the setback. Lance Berkman, who has hit safely in 14 straight games, finished 2-for-4.

Shawn Chacon got the start for the Astros and was tagged for eight runs on six hits in just 3 1/3 innings. Wesley Wright was charged with the loss after he permitted two runs on three hits in a mere 1 1/3 innings of work.

Tonight's matchup finds the Astros leaning on right-hander Roy Oswalt, coming off one of his strongest starts of the season.

On Monday the Mississippi native logged his fourth win in as many decisions, setting down the final 14 San Francisco batters he faced in what turned into a 7-3 victory on the road. Oswalt threw a season-high eight innings, allowing three runs on five hits.

Oswalt, who began 2008 with three consecutive setbacks, has a career mark of 4-3 with a 3.53 ERA in nine appearances versus Texas over the years.

As for the Rangers, they are handing the ball to Vicente Padilla, who enters the contest with just one win in five career decisions against Houston.

Nevertheless Padilla, who spent time in the National League with both Arizona and Philadelphia before going to Texas in 2006, is currently 5-2 on the campaign even though he failed to earn a decision in the 13-12 win over Seattle on Monday. In that contest the 10-year veteran was touched for six runs, although only three were earned, over the course of seven innings.

Hamilton is now tied for the AL lead in home runs with 10 and leads the majors with 49 RBI for a Texas squad that is tops in the league with 49 home runs.

On the other side of the ledger, Berkman paces the NL with 15 home runs and 43 runs batted in to this point, and yet Houston is still just tied for third in the league with a collective 48 home runs.

The Rangers, who are 14-11 against the Astros since the start of the 2004 campaign, own a 94-101 all-time versus the National League, while Houston is now 87-81 all-time in games played against the AL.