The Houston Astros look to get back to winning today as they face the Detroit Tigers. It is time to continue our MLB odds series with an Astros-Tigers prediction, pick, and how-to-watch.

The Astros come in off splitting a four-game series with the Boston Red Sox, but the sting of last night may be a big one. The Red Sox gave the Astros one of their worst losses in franchise history. The Red Sox started with a lead-off home run in the first, scored four in the second, and then six in the third. Overall, it was 17 runs for the Red Sox to just one from the Astros. With the Loss, the Astros dropped to 72-57, and are now in the third Wild Card spot in the American League due to being behind Seattle in win percentage. They are also a game back of Texas in the division race.

Meanwhile, the Tigers lost two of three to the Cubs this week. While the loss drops them to 58-69 on the season, their season is not over yet. They still have a small shot at the playoffs, sitting 7.5 games out of first in the AL Central. They do not play the Twins again this year, but with games with the White Sox, Athletics, and the Royals on the schedule, they could make up some ground.

Here are the Astros-Tigers MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel. 

MLB Odds: Astros-Tigers Odds

Houston Astros: -1.5 (-106)

Detroit Tigers: +1.5 (-113)

Over: 8.5 (-122)

Under: 8.5 (+100)

How To Watch Astros vs. Tigers

TV: ATTH/BSDET

Stream: MLB.TV

Time: 6:40 PM ET/ 3:40 PM PT

*Watch MLB games LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*

Why The Astros Could Cover The Spread

Last night was another example of the Astros pitching struggling as of late. they gave up 17 runs last night and gave up 31 runs in the four games with the Red Sox. In the last ten games, they have given up 65 runs. On the season, the Astros are ninth in the majors in team ERA, while sitting 18th in WHIP and 17th in opponent batting average. It will be Framber Valdez heading to the mound today for the Astros. He is 9-9 on the season with a 3.55 ERA. He has struggled in his last three starts though. After opening the month by pitching a no-hitting, he has given up four or more runs in each of his last three starts. His ERA in those starts is sitting at 6.86.

At the plate, the Astros are seventh in the majors in runs scored, 13th in batting average, 11th in on-base percentage, and 10th in slugging. Kyle Tucker is the leader of this offense. He leads the team in batting average, home runs, and RBIs this year. He is still driving in runs this month. While Tucker is hitting .250 in the month with a .333 on-base percentage, he has seven home runs and 23 RBIs this month. He also has scored 13 times. Yanier Diaz also comes into this game hot. He is hitting .400 in the last week with a .419 on-base percentage. Diaz has hit two home runs and driven in five in the last week as well.

Chas McCormick has been doing almost the same. While he is hitting just .241 in the last week, he has also hit two home runs in the last week, driving in five runs and scoring three times. Scoring runs is something Alex Bregman has been doing on the regular. In the last week, he has scored seven times. He is hitting .370 with a .485 on-base percentage in that time frame as well. Bregman also has two doubles, a triple, and a home run leading to four RBIs in the last week.

Why The Tigers Could Cover The Spread

The Tigers offense has been solid as of late. In the series with the Cubs, they scored 18 runs in three games. Overall, they are 29th in the majors in runs scored this year, while sitting 27th in batting average, 27th in on-base percentage, and 27th in slugging. Spencer Torkelson leads the team in home runs and RBIs. He is having another solid month. Torkelson is hitting .267 this month with eight home runs and ten RBIs. Meanwhile, he is getting on base at a .375 rate, and with the help of five doubles and a stolen base, he has scored 17 times.

Kerry Carpenter comes into this game hot. In the last week, he is hitting .308 with a .400 on-base percentage. While hitting four home runs and a double, Carpenter has driven in 12 runs in the last seven games. He has also scored four times. Andy Ibanez may be hitting the best on the team. In his last week, he is hitting .417 with a .462 on-base percentage. He also has two home runs and a double, leading to five RBIs and three runs scored in the last week. Finally, Zach McKinstry has been getting on base a lot. While he is hitting just .286 he has an OBP of .417 in the past week. He has stolen three bases in there while driving in two and scoring twice.

The Tigers will send Matt Manning to the mound today. He is 5-4 on the season with a 4.31 ERA. His last two starts have been solid. In his last two starts, he has pitched 11.1 innings while giving up just one earned run on a home run. He will be hoping to get some better defense behind him though. This month in 23 innings of work, he has given up 15 runs, but only 11 are earned, and opponents have scored an unearned run against him in each of his last three starts.

Final Astros-Tigers Prediction & Pick

Framber Valdez has given up four or more runs in six of his last seven starts. He is giving up a lot of home runs as well. In his last seven starts, he has given up nine home runs. The struggles could easily continue today. The Tigers have been solid on offense as of late. Meanwhile, the Astros should score some runs, Matt Manning has been good as of late. In his last seven starts, he has given up two or fewer runs four times. The Tigers will score enough to cover in this one.

Final Astros-Tigers Prediction & Pick: Tigers +1.5 (-113)