The Houston Astros return to the comforts of Minute Maid Park fresh off a tough nine-game road trip that just wrapped in Oakland in what proved to be a crucial series for AL West bragging rights. Having just put a ton of energy and emotion into that three-game set with the A’s, Monday night’s series opener against what’s proven to be a feisty bunch of San Francisco Giants could prove to be a letdown spot. Looking to prevent it from becoming a reality will be Lance McCullers Jr. who will attempt to bounce back from a wretched outing last time out against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Opposing him will be Logan Webb who’s led the Giants to wins in all three of his made starts. San Fran just might be the sneaky underdog play to make at online sportsbooks due to its ability to compete away from Oracle Park and it possibly being a hangover spot for the home team. They’ll certainly be taking a nice price back from oddsmakers with the total lined in the 9-10 run range.
First pitch for the game between the San Francisco Giants and Houston Astros is scheduled for Monday, August 10, 2020, at 9:10 p.m. ET from Minute Maid Park. The matchup will be shown live on ESPN’s Monday Night Baseball telecast. You can bet on MLB Odds at BookMaker.eu every day of the season.
Odds Analysis
Though the Giants just dropped three of four on the road in Colorado, it was in every single game and had a shot to win each and every one of them. The team’s road warrior mentality of a year ago seems to have carried over with Gabe Kapler’s squad splitting a four-game series with the Los Angeles Dodgers in its only other trek away from home. As it stands, Mike Yastrzemski and his mates have made MLB bettors $350 when playing away from the comforts of their home stadium. Currently four-games in back of the Rockies, it’s a bit surprising to see their NL West futures odds coming in at +7000. Though Houston sat two-games in back of the A’s heading into this past weekend’s series, Dusty Baker’s troops are still even money favorites to win the AL West a fourth straight time. Having split its first six home games, the Astros are already $189 in the hole when playing in front of their hometown faithful.
Probable Pitchers
Logan Webb: As stated, the Giants have come out on the right side of the scoreboard in all three of the rookie’s starts. He helped pave the way for a huge ticket cash as +335 underdogs against the Dodgers in his 2020 debut, and then did it again against Texas in his second turn. Most recently, he outdueled Jon Gray at Coors Field by tossing five innings of 1 ER ball to secure his first win of the season. He’s given up a single ER in every start and has done a solid job versus right-handed bats in limiting them to a .238 batting average and .693 OPS. This will be his first career start against the Astros.
Lance McCullers Jr.: McCullers was by no means thrilled about the Arizona Diamondbacks opening up the roof in the third inning of his most recent start; things went south for him in a hurry immediately after. That said, the right-hander didn’t look great in his second start either after conceding six hits (1 HR) and 4 ER in Anaheim versus what’s proving to be a pretty potent Angels offense. This will be his fourth start since recovering from Tommy John surgery, and it’s pretty safe to say his stuff isn’t as dominating as it was before going under the knife. Tonight marks his first career start against the Giants.
Players to Watch
What if I told you two of the hottest hitters in the game currently reside on the San Francisco Giants roster? 2B Donovan Solano and OF Mike Yastrzemski are currently ripping the cover off the ball! The former has collected hits in 20 of his first 43 at-bats with seven of them going for extra bases to go along with 13 RBI. He’s also raked against right-handed pitching evidenced by his .552 average, .548 on-base percentage and 1.341 OPS. The latter is batting .319 overall with more than half his 15 overall hits going for extra bases. He’s also done most of his damage against righties in posting a .313 average, .450 OBP and .625 slugging percentage. Don’t be afraid to get involved in either’s total bases props regardless of whether their matched up against Houston’s big wigs like Jose Altuve, George Springer, Alex Bregman or Michael Brantley.
MLB Pick
I’ve really come away impressed with what Webb has done to this point of the season. On top of that, the Giants have been nowhere near as bad as I expected. They actually got some young talent on the roster that’s playing some care free ball. They look like they’re having fun out there! I can’t and won’t say the same with the Astros. Injuries, a skeleton crew in the bullpen, individual slow starts and the dark cloud hanging over the franchise for banging on trash cans looks to be taking a toll. The team’s pressing and it shows in their overall W/L record. If San Fran wasn’t coming off another series with the Dodgers, I’d be more enthused about taking a stab with them in this spot. Either way, I have no desire to lay the obscene chalk oddsmakers will undoubtedly force us to lay with the Astros in this spot. Throw some beer money on the Giants to win outright, but also back it up on the run-line for insurance purposes.
MLB Odds: Giants 5, Astros 4
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