As long as the weather cooperates, New York has a chance to get a leg up in the AL East with 12 of their first 18 games at Yankee Stadium. The series finale is also the Yanks last chance to take out the frustration of last year’s Wild Card loss to the Astros.
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ODDS ANALYSIS
After averaging 104 losses the prior four seasons, the Astros went 86-76 and reached the playoffs for the first time in a decade. Houston knocked off New York in Yankee Stadium in the AL Wild Card game and had a 2-1 series lead against Kansas City in the Division Series and led 6-2 in the eighth inning of Game 4 before the Royals rallied to win the game and later the World Series. The Astros came close but weren’t satisfied.
New York reached the playoffs last year after its first two-season absence in two decades, but the Astros ended the Yankees’ postseason quickly. The storied franchise has not been the powerhouse it used to be, like when the Yanks won 94-plus games in 11 of 12 seasons between 2001 and 2012. But don’t let that fool you into thinking that they’re not capable of competing in 2016.
PROBABLE PITCHERS
Mike Fiers went 2-1 with a 3.32 ERA in 10 games – nine starts – after coming to the Astros from the Brewers in a July trade. Overall, he went 7-10 with a 3.69 ERA and set career-highs in starts, innings pitched and strikeouts.
Viewed by most as a lesser piece of the Carlos Gomez trade, Fiers made quite an intro to Houston fans by throwing a no-hitter in his fourth game with the team. He’ll likely move down a peg in the rotation when Lance McCullers comes off the DL, but he’s proven to be a capable middle-of-the-rotation guy. He’s never faced the Yanks.
Nathan Eovaldi begins his second season with the Yankees looking to follow up on a career-best 14-win campaign, which tied for eighth in the AL. In two starts against Houston last year, Eovaldi struck out 13 batters across 14 combined innings and allowed just three earned runs in that span.
Eovaldi had his 2015 campaign end about a month early when he felt soreness in his right elbow in a Sept. 5 start. There was no structural damage and he was put on ice for the rest of the season.
LIVE BETTING
Luke Gregerson held onto his job as the Astros closer, beating out newcomer Ken Giles. Manager A.J. Hinch made the announcement Monday. Gregerson had been used primarily as a setup man during his career, but slid into the ninth-inning spot last year, his first with the Astros, mainly because there was no one else to finish games. Prior to the 2015 season, the 31-year-old right-hander had 19 saves in 435 games and blew 32 save chances. He converted 31 of 36 save chances last season while going 7-3 with a 3.10 ERA. Giles, acquired from the Phillies in the offseason, was expected to nail down the role but struggled during the spring. He owns a brilliant 1.56 ERA with 151 strikeouts in 115.2 career major league innings and could eventually take over.
QUICK PICK
The Yankees have the youngest average roster they’ve assembled at the start of a season in nearly a decade, but the key pieces haven’t changed and all aged another year. Guys like Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira, Carlos Beltran and Jacoby Ellsbury are all getting up there in age and are expected to contribute to whatever success the Yankees will have in 2016. So it’s safe to say that New York better stockpile some victories early because the core group of players are unlikely to play an entire season. As a team the Yankees have never faced Fiers but several players have and with some success, especially Chase Headley, who’s batting 1.000 in his career against him.
New York 6, Houston 3
The MLB lines for this contest will first be released by BookMaker Sportsbook. Since this game can be seen by anyone with a TV, BookMaker will have a multitude of wagering options available for it. Outside of the normal lines, you can gamble on real-time moneylines, player props and inning totals. Live betting is open during every commercial break!
Access live betting lines from your mobile device at BookMaker Sportsbook! You can wager on sporting events as they unfold on television with BookMaker’s live betting platform. Real-time spreads, totals, props and moneyline odds are all available by clicking here so start betting with BookMaker today! The ballgame pitting the Houston Astros versus the New York Yankees will commence Thursday, April 7, 2016, at 4:05 p.m. ET at Yankee Stadium.
