Astros vs. Orioles Pick
Can the Houston Astros pick up another road win tonight when they take on the Baltimore Orioles at 7:05PM ET?
According to oddsmakers at BetDSI, the Astros are favored on the road tonight, as they are getting odds of -135 to win, while the Orioles are listed with a money line of +125 to win. The over/under total for the game has been set at 11 runs.
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The pitching matchup tonight has Chris Tillman (1-5, 7.20 ERA) on the mound for Baltimore to face Collin McHugh of the Astros. Tillman has struggled a great deal this season, but has had back-to-back good starts, allowing just three earned runs over 11 innings. This season he has 39 strikeouts with 30 walks and a 2.02 WHIP. McHugh is making his first start of the 2017 season due to an elbow injury. He is coming off a 2016 year where he went 13-10 with a 4.34 ERA and 177 strikeouts.
Houston took the first game of the series on Friday night, 8-7. Houston has won all four meetings this year and seven straight against the Orioles. The Astros are now 64-32 overall and 34-11 on the road while Baltimore is 46-50 overall and 29-20 at home.
Houston led big in Friday’s game but then nearly blew the game, allowing five Baltimore runs in the bottom of the ninth inning. The bullpen managed to not blow a win for Mike Fiers, who pitched seven innings and allowed just one run with nine strikeouts to get his seventh win of 2017 for Houston. Ubaldo Jimenez had another poor outing, allowing six runs in 5.1 innings of work to fall to 4-6 on the year. Yuli Gurriel led Houston at the plate with four hits and two RBI while George Springer had three hits. Baltimore was led by Jonathan Schoop, who drove in four runs and had his 20th home run of the season.
I am not sure what to expect from McHugh today, but I wouldn’t expect a long outing. Houston will likely be precautionary with his arm. Still, I think he can have a competitive start against the Orioles. Tillman has been gaining some momentum in recent starts, but I still can’t trust a pitcher with a 7.20 ERA. His WHIP is just far too high against a team that hits the ball as well as Houston does.
MLB DAILY PREDICTION: HOUSTON ASTROS -135