The Houston Astros and the New York Yankees close out a three-game set in the Bronx on Thursday. It’s time to continue our MLB odds series and make an Astros-Yankees prediction and pick.
The Yankees will be looking for the sweep in this high intensity series that has featured a playoff atmosphere. New York has outscored Houston by seven runs through the first two games and will send their ace out for the finale. Will they complete the sweep or will the Astros find a way to salvage the series?
Here’s how sportsbooks have set the opening Astros-Yankees MLB odds.
MLB Odds: Astros-Yankees Odds
Houston Astros +1.5 (-127)
New York Yankees -1.5 (+107)
Over 7.5 Runs (-104)
Under 7.5 Runs (-116)
Why The Astros Could Cover The Spread
The Houston Astros have been competing well in this series, but have managed to let both of the first two games slip away in the later innings. They tied the game in the fourth inning on Tuesday before letting up four runs on an error and a base knock. The Astros then held an early lead in game two before allowing another four runs down the stretch. Houston now sits at 15-15 on the season with a .500 record away from home. The seventh-ranked offense in baseball has shown up in this series, but it's now up to the staff to show up and salvage the series in New York.
Houston will send out right-hander Lance McCullers for the finale. McCullers is 2-1 with a 3.38 ERA in five starts this season for the Astros. Although he has allowed as many walks as hits this season, McCullers is coming off of his best start of the season against the Rays. The right-hander struck out nine batters over seven innings in his latest win. In four career starts against the Yankees, Lance is 2-0 with a 2.59 ERA and 28 strikeouts in 24 1/3 innings of work.
Why The Yankees Could Cover The Spread
The New York Yankees seem to be returning to form after their horrid start to the 2021 season. The fans are back in the Bronx and they are letting the Astros hear it in this series. The Yankee faithful have made 10,000 fans sound like a sold out crowd. This has fueled the Bronx Bombers as they've scored 13 runs in the first two games of the series. New York is now 16-14 on the year and 9-7 ATS at Yankee Stadium. The bats are waking up, but it's the Yankees second-ranked pitching staff that has kept this team afloat to start the year.
Yankees ace Gerrit Cole will man the mound in the series finale. Cole has been brilliant this season and is coming off arguably his best start of the young campaign. The Yankee right-hander struck out 12 batters with no walks in six shutout innings against the Tigers. Cole is 2-1 with a 1.40 ERA in his last three starts coming in. He has struck out 33 batters and surrendered no walks during the impressive three-game stretch. The Cy Young candidate enters with a 4-1 record and 1.43 ERA in six starts this season. He's a big reason why the MLB odds favor the Yankees in this matchup.
Final Astros-Yankees Prediction & Pick
The first two games of this series have been fairly high scoring, which leads you to believe that the finale will be high scoring as well. I'm confident that won't be the case, though. Gerrit Cole is un-hittable and Lance McCullers seems to be finding some accuracy and consistency with his electrifying stuff. The Yankee offense has struggled this season and may be due for a regression in this game. My prediction is that the Yankees win, the Astros cover, and most importantly, this game goes under the total.
FINAL PICK: Under 7.5 Runs (-116)
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