A pair of teams that went at one another in the ALDS last season will pick their three game weekend series back up on Saturday night when Carlos Correa and the streaking Astros take on Eric Hosmer and the defending champion Royals.
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ODDS ANALYSIS
In pulling out a 3-2 win over the Angels to secure their third straight series win, the Astros have fought all the way back to even their record up at 36-36. That’s a huge improvement for A.J. Hinch’s squad who was fighting off both LA and Oakland for the basement in the division just three weeks ago.
The club might still de down over $800 overall, but it’s not just 10 games back of the Rangers after being down 15 a couple weeks back. Keep chewing off the deficit like that, and it will only be a matter of time until this team gets a shot at living up to preseason expectations. You can currently get down at them at 10-1 to come back and win the division.
The Royals opened their abbreviated two game interleague series with the Mets in New York winners of three in a row and eight of their last nine. After dropping a disappointing 2-1 decision to the Mets in the series opener in what amounted to be a bullpen game for the home team, KC fell to 38-32 for the year and two games in back of Cleveland.
While the team has played .543 ball to date, something just seems to be lacking with this club. The offense does a fine job putting balls in play evidenced by its .275 batting average (#2), but it’s only scoring an average of 4.1 runs per game (#24). While top 10 in the stolen bases department, it’s only ranked No. 9. For a team with such limited home run power, it needs to be making more hay on the base paths.
PROBABLE PITCHERS
Scheduled to go for Houston is Mike Fiers, but he’s still questionable after leaving his last start due to taking a comebacker off the leg. We’ll treat it as if he’s going however. Fiers has nothing if not serviceable this season. He’s 5-3 overall and has been really good at times. He’s also been pretty bad, so it’s been incredibly tough to gauge exactly which pitcher you’re getting every time he takes to the bump. Houston’s only won one of his six road starts where his ERA balloons to 6.19 and he’s allowed 43 hits through 32 innings pitched.
Opposing the Astros fire baller will be Edinson Volquez who will be looking to put forth a quality start for Ned Yost and his staff – something KC has grossly failed to do in tallying just 26 overall (#28). Volquez is the staff leader in ERA (4.12), wins (7) and WHIP (1.35). Absolutely none of those numbers jump off the page which is another thing that just doesn’t feel right about this squad. The Royals have never been known for dominant starting pitching, but this year’s crop has been borderline embarrassing.
LIVE BETTING
Kansas City has owned this rivalry with the Astros of late in winning seven of the last 10 overall meetings. The under was the predominant side to back in those contests with is cashing six times.
It’s been even worse for the Astros at Kauffman Stadium with the club securing just one win in their last five visits.
QUICK PICK
I like what I’ve seen out of the Astros of late. This team was figured by many to compete for the AL pennant this season after coming out of nowhere to qualify for the postseason a year ago. It never matters how you start, only how you finish. With so much season left, there’s plenty of time to get back in the AL West race. To do that, it’s going to have to beat some of the better teams it runs up against. Look for them to show well in KC over the weekend and keep their mojo rising.
MLB Odds: Astros 7, Royals 4
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