Houston Astros at New York Yankees Betting Preview/Prop Picks

One of the best rivalries in history is set for today as the Houston Astros face the New York Yankees. The Astros, with a record of 43-26, rank first in the AL West.

Yesterday, however, they couldn’t edge out a win over the Yankees and lost the game 7-6. Today, they’ll look to bounce back from yesterday’s loss. Unfortunately, this might be a little easier said than done.

The New York Yankees have a record of 52-18 this season and lead the AL East. They were the first team to earn 50 wins and are well on their way to 60.

Over their last ten games, the Yankees have earned eight wins. They’ll look to add another win to their column tonight, but the Astros aren’t going down easy. That much was evident in yesterday’s game between these two teams.

Houston Astros: The pitching battle tonight should be interesting

On the mound for the Astros tonight is Justin Verlander, who is 8-3 as a starter. Sure, he has an impressive record, but his ERA of 2.30 is slightly more impressive.

The Astros have their best pitcher on the mound tonight to deal with the Yankees batters. The question here is longevity; how long will he remain on the mound. With seven solid innings, the Astros could win this one.

At the plate, the Astros have been considered “middle of the road” this season. Houston has a batting average of .240, ranking 18th in Major League Baseball.

They also have an on-base percentage of .318, which is tied for 13th. The area they excel in is slugging percentage, of which they rank fifth at .420. This mid-level batting won’t help much against the Yankees.

New York Yankees: Keep an eye on SP Luis Severino tonight

As we said, the pitching battle tonight is definitely one to watch. The Yankees are sending out Luis Severino, the RHP, with a record of 4-1. Severino has an ERA of 3.27, which isn’t as good as Verlander but still respectable.

The Yankees have been on a roll this season, but it hasn’t all been because of pitching. It also helps that they have some of the best batting in the league.

In terms of team batting average, the Yankees rank 13th with a .245. When looking at runs this season, the Yankees already have 360 total, ranking first in the league. They also rank third in MLB in on-base percentage at .327.

They even have a better slugging percentage than the Astros at .441. Needless to say, the batting advantage definitely goes to the Yankees today.

Houston Astros at New York Yankees Betting Pick

Each of these teams brings something special to tonight’s game. It’s up to us to decide whether pitching or batting will make more of an impact.

After last night, we can confidently say that pitching weighs more heavily in this game than batting does. Because of this, we’ll take the Houston Astros at +107 tonight. 

Sure, the Astros are underdogs, but they nearly beat the Yankees yesterday. Tonight, they’ll have Verlander on the mound, which should help them immensely.

Look for the Astros to get off to a strong start and hold the lead. We’re also going to pair this with the under as the Astros have an affinity for going under the total.

DunkelIndex Free Pick: Houston Astros +107, UNDER

Prop Pick

NY Yankees (+105) UNDER 3.5 Runs

Houston is allowing 3.55 runs per 9 innings on defense, which ranks No. 3 in the league, with an opposing team OPS of .633, which also ranks No. 3. Scores have gone UNDER in 14 of the Astros last 21 games following a loss.

With Dunkel predicting a Houston victory by the score of 3-2, take the Yankees (+105) to finish UNDER their Vegas team total of 3.5 runs against the Astros.

Justin Verlander (-140) UNDER 5.5 Hits Allowed

Verlander has given up 58 hits in 82.1 innings pitched this season. The Astros’ righthander has given up 25 hits in 46.0 innings pitched on the road compared with 33 hits in 36.1 innings pitched at home.

With Dunkel predicting a Houston road victory while holding the Yankees UNDER their team run total, take Verlander (-140) to finish UNDER 5.5 hits allowed against New York.

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All Media on this page by Associated Press.