On Saturday night, the Seattle Mariners be in Houston to take on the Astros. The Mariners are 7-14 on the season and come into this one as the underdog.
The Astros haven’t started the season as they had hoped, but their bats are starting to come alive. At 9-10 on the season, they are the favorites in this contest.
Seattle Mariners
The Mariners will be throwing Nick Margevicius. He has only thrown 8 1/3 innings this season, holding a 3.24 ERA. They didn’t start the series in Houston the way they had hoped, as the Astros won the opener of the series on Friday by a score of 11-1.
Seattle was supposed to start Yusei Kikuchi on Friday, but he got pulled less than an hour away from the game with neck spasms. So they threw Nestor Cortes, who gave up eight runs in the first inning.
The Mariners are currently last in the AL West with the Oakland A’s leading the pack. Seattle’s team average sits at .225 with 19 home runs.
Houston Astros
The Astros have taken a lot of scrutiny, as they’re struggling to hit just after their sign-stealing scandal. However, their bats have started to wake up as of late.
Now they have Yordan Alvarez back in the lineup. He missed the first 18 games of the season while recovering from the coronavirus. He is the reigning American League Rookie of the Year.
“This has been a couple of difficult months for me,” Alvarez said. “I know the team didn’t say anything about it, but I did test positive for coronavirus. I had headaches and stuff like that, but thank God I’m feeling a lot better, and I was able to get ramped up and feeling really good to be back with the team.”
In his first game back on Friday, he bombed a three-run home run in his first at-bat. The Astros are happy to have his bat back in the lineup.
He hit .313, adding 27 home runs and 78 RBI last year in 87 games.
Christian Javier will get the start for Houston. He is 1-1 on the season with a 4.02 ERA through 15 2/3 innings. If the right-hander gets the run support that this Astros lineup is capable of, then he should be able to get the win.
Prediction
The Astros have beaten the Mariners in 17 of their last 18 meetings. The odds favor Houston at a -210 moneyline. This Mariners team will continue to struggle to get a win in this series.
But I like the run line in this one. It seems that the Astros are starting to hit the ball much better, and with the addition of Alvarez, spirits are up.
I will be the Astros -1.5 (-125). The lineup shouldn’t have trouble making up that two runs against Margevicius.
I will also take the Houston over for runs set at 5.5. They have scored at least five runs in their last four games.