The city of Houston hasn't seen meaningful baseball at the end of July since 2008. Alas, after all of the rebuilding that has gone on the past several seasons, the Houston Astros are 55-45 and a game back of the Los Angeles Angels for the lead in the AL West. They'll ready themselves for arguably their most important series in a decade against the Halos, the middle game of which is on Wednesday night.
PITCHING MATCHUP
Lance McCullers is one of the many who have been a part of this renaissance for the Astros. The rookie though, is starting to concern us just a bit. He is being put on a bit of a pitch count to keep his innings down this year, seeing how he is only 21-years old, and we wonder if that is playing in his head.
In his last two starts, McCullers has allowed four runs in six innings and two runs in five innings. The real tell though, came with his strikeouts. McCullers had 10 punch outs against the Rays back on July 12. Eleven days later, he struck out just two members of the Red Sox.
If McCullers is juiced up and getting some early strikeouts, he can be dominant for live bettors. If he seems tentative on the mound though, live bettors should head for the hills, especially knowing that he is running up against a real horse in Garrett Richards on Wednesday.
Richards missed a couple starts early in the season as he was rehabbing his torn ACL which ended his 2014 campaign, but he has been a bull since then, throwing 116.1 innings in just 18 starts.
The righty isn't quite striking out as many men as he used to, and he is allowing a few more home runs as well, but that 3.25 ERA doesn't lie. Richards is going to go out there and throw at least 100 pitches for the Angels in this one, and though he might get hit a bit, he's going to keep bouncing back.
ADVANCED STATS
There is one team in the majors who has two qualified players ranking in the top 10 in the league in ISO, and that team happens to be LA.
Mike Trout and Albert Pujols, who have ISOs of .304 and .281 respectively. They now have 60 home runs between them to go with a total of 126 runs driven in.
At least one of these men has driven in at least one run in seven of the Angels' last eight games, and you can bet that McCullers, who did hold these two men to a combined 0-for-9 at the plate back in June, will have some problems on his hands.
TALKING BULLPENS
You might look at Huston Street's 2.87 ERA and cringe just a bit, but remember that he has pitched incredibly well in save situations. The vet has allowed just one run in a save situation since May 31.
The moral of the story here is simple for live bettors. If Street is coming in to pitch in a save situation, you can pound away on the high vig and know that you're probably going to end up being just fine. If he comes in during a non-save situation though, betting the over might be the way to go.
Getting the ball to Street has been a problem at times for the Angels, who only have one regular reliever with better than a 2.81 ERA in Cesar Ramos, but when they get to that ninth, which might be the only inning Richards needs help with, Street has been able to slam the door shut for the most part.
The baseball betting odds for this game will first be available at BookMaker Sportsbook. BookMaker is going to have multiple betting options available for this baseball matchup. Live wagering during commercials offers and adjusted moneyline, individual inning run totals and next hitter results. Log in, and start gambling during the game now!
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