Two teams expected to contend for the AL Pennant face-off again Wednesday night as the 15-14 New York Yankees host the 15-14 Houston Astros. The Yankees have won four in a row and took the series opener 7-3 Tuesday night. Houston has fallen into third place in the AL West with two straight losses.
First pitch for the middle game of the series is set for 7:05 p.m. ET at Yankee Stadium. The Astros send right-hander Luis Garcia (0-3, 2.70) to the mound against Yankees lefty Jordan Montgomery (1-1, 4.39).
Astros Power Outage
Zack Greinke struggled for Houston on Tuesday with four walks, three runs, and three hits allowed over four innings in a no-decision. That short start taxed the bullpen with four relievers combining to allow four runs over four innings in the loss.
Offensively the Astros are fourth in the AL with a .253 batting average and third in runs scored. They are 14th though in home runs and have the most strikeouts in the league with nearly 10 per game. Alex Bregman hit his fifth homer on Tuesday and is batting .295, while Michael Brantley is hitting .327 and Yuli Gurriel at .333.
The pitching staff ranks fifth in ERA at 3.81, but the bullpen has struggled. Houston has just six saves on the season, and four relievers with at least 10 innings pitched have ERA’s over 4.30. Ryan Pressly has been good in the backend with a 2-0 mark, four saves, and a 1.50 ERA, but they have struggled to get him save chances.
Garcia lost against Seattle on Thursday. He allowed just one run and struck out six over five innings but didn’t get any run support in a 1-0 loss. The Astros have scored six runs total in Garcia’s last four starts.
He has never faced the Yankees or any of their hitters. Garcia is looking for his first Major League win as he makes his fifth career start.
Yankees Finally Hitting their Stride
It took a while for the Yankees to get going, but now they have won four in a row and are in second place behind the Boston Red Sox. Giancarlo Stanton keyed Tuesday’s win with a 4-for-5 game that included a 2-run homer off Greinke. The DH is now batting .297 with seven homers on the season.
The Yankees are third in the AL in home runs with 38, but they rank 13th in runs scored thanks to a .223 batting average. The Yankees tend to hit singles or homers, which has led to a high amount of runners left on base. They do lead the AL in walks with 129 through 29 games.
The bullpen has been terrific through the first month of the season. Closer Aroldis Chapman has 10 shutout innings and 24 strikeouts to three walks as he has saved six games. Chad Green (1.02). Jonathan Loaisiga (1.04), Luis Cessa (1.42), and Michael King (0.00) all have at least 10 innings of work and sub 2.00 ERA’s.
Montgomery took a no-decision at Baltimore on Thursday as he allowed two runs on six hits over five innings with one strikeout. The home run has hurt him this season, with five allowed in 26 innings of work.
Montgomery has allowed home runs to Houston batters Carlos Correa, Martin Maldonado, and Gurriel in his career. Bregman and Brantley are a combined 0-for-6 against the left, while Correa is 4-for-7 and Jose Altuve is 1-for-7.
Betting Analysis
The Yankees are -143, with the Astros at +123. The Yankees are -1.5 (+140) on the run line, with Houston at +1.5 (-167). The game total is 9.
Both of these hurlers have been pitching well, even if they don’t have runs to show for it. Houston hasn’t put up runs for Garcia, and they have middling success against Mongomery in two career outings. The Yankees offense has picked it up recently but could struggle against a good young starter.
FREE PICK: Under 9 runs