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Last night Framber Valdez threw the 16th no-hitter in Houston Astros history, as they continue their series with the Cleveland Guardians today. It is now time to continue our MLB odds series with a Guardians-Astros prediction, pick, and how-to watch.
Yesterday was a great day for the Houston Astros. Not only did they get the win and pull within a half-game of the Rangers for first place in the division, they did it in dominating fashion. It took Framber Valdez just 93 pitches to take care of the Guardians. Valdez faced the minimum 27-batters to throw the no-hitter. He also struck out seven and was just one walk in the fifth inning away from perfection. Valdez promptly turned that walk into a double play and continued his dominance throughout. That was not the only bright spot for the Astros. They also completed a trade with the Mets to bring Justin Verlander back to Houston.
Meanwhile, The Guardians continued their sell-off. They traded Josh Bell to the Marlins yesterday, and then promptly dumped who they got back in return. Even with back-to-back losses, the Guardians are just two games behind the Twins in the AL Central, but they seemed to have waived the white flag on the season.
Here are the Guardians-Astros MLB odds, courtesy of DraftKings.
MLB Odds: Guardians-Astros Odds
Cleveland Guardians: +1.5 (-180)
Houston Astros: -1.5 (+150)
Over: 8.5 (-120)
Under: 8.5 (+100)
How To Watch Guardians vs. Astros
TV: BSGL/ATTH
Stream: MLB.TV
Time: 2:10 PM ET/ 11:10 AMPT
*Watch MLB games LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*
Why The Guardians Could Cover The Spread
To win the game, you have to score runs, and to do that, you have to get a hit. That is something the Guardians did not do yesterday, and have struggled with this year. They are 25th in runs scored this year, while sitting 15th in batting average, 21st in on-base percentage, and 26th in slugging. While Jose Ramirez was one of the Guardians held to an 0-3 night with a strikeout, he has been solid over the last week. In the last week, Ramirez has four home runs, with six RBIs. He is hitting .333 in the last week with a double and two stolen bases as well. Combined with the walks, his OBP in the last week is .400.
While Ramirez is providing power, the hottest bat in the lineup may be Gabriel Arias. Arias is hitting .381 over the last week while scoring three runs. He is coming off a very solid July in which he hit .308 for the month. Meanwhile, he got on base at a .379 clip while hitting a double and scoring four times in July. Also coming off a great month is Josh Naylor. Naylor hit .333 on the month and drove in an astounding 21 runs. He did this with the help of five home runs and seven doubles. Naylor also scored 12 times. He hopefully will return to the line-up today, as he missed yesterday and is currently day-to-day with right-side tightness.
On the mound today will be Tanner Bibee. He is 7-2 on the season with a 3.11 ERA. Bible is coming in off an amazing month of July. He made five starts in the month and pitched 30.1 innings. Meanwhile, he struck out 33 batters and allowed just six runs all month. That gave him a 3-0 record with a 1.78 ERA. Bible has not lost a game since June 13th, when he went just four innings and have up six runs to the Padres. That was his worst start of the season, and since then he is 5-0 with a 2.18 ERA.
Why The Astros Could Cover The Spread
The Astro's pitching has been amazing this year, and with the trade for Verlander, it just got better. This year the Astros rank third in the majors with a 3.78 ERA, while sitting 12th in WHIP and eighth in opponent batting average. They are also fourth in quality starts right now. It will be Ronel Blanco getting the start today for the Astros. He is 2-1 on the year with a 4.70 ERA. Blanco has not made a start since July 6th and has been in the minors since. He will get the call-up in this one. Blanco has given up three runs in each of his last three starts, dating back to June 24th.
On the offensive side of things, they are 11th in runs scored, 17th in batting average, 15th in on-base percentage, and 13th in slugging. Last night it was Kyle Tucker who drove in both runs for the Astros. That gave him 74 RBIS on the year, which is tied for ninth in the majors. He also comes in off a great month in July. In July, Tucker drove in 23 runs while hitting seven home runs and eight doubles. He hit .359 at the plate and got on base at a .445 rate. Tucker also stole six bases and scored 19 times last month.
Meanwhile, Yordan Alvarez leads the team in home runs with 19 this year. Since missing the majority of July, he has come back strong. In the five games he played in July, Alvarez hit great. He hit .389 with a .476 on-base percentage. Alvarez also hit two home runs and a double, leading to him driving in four runs. To top it off, he also scored five times and had at least one hit in every game he played.
Joining Alvarez and Tucker in driving in runs is Alex Bregman. He has six RBIs in the last week, and in July he drove in 16 runs. He did this with the help of six home runs and four doubles, while also scoring 18 times on the month. Bregman did not hit particularly well on the month though. It was just a .260 batting average in July, but he did get on base at a .343 clip.
Final Guardians-Astros Prediction & Pick
The Guardians have struggled as of late and just sold off some of their major pieces. They still have the Naylor brothers and Joe Ramirez, but that may not be enough in this one. Still, they have their top remaining pitcher going today, and he has been outstanding as of late. For the Astros, it is all about pitching. If they get a quality start they normally win. The Guardians do have a major edge in the pitching match up though. With that, take the Guardians to cover.
Final Guardians-Astros Prediction & Pick: Guardians +1.5 ( -180)