The New York Yankees and Houston Astros meet on Friday in the Bronx for the first of a three-game series between two AL playoff contenders that are both struggling of late. New York went from having a resounding AL East lead to holding the third Wild Card spot by 1.5 games over the Cleveland Guardians and Texas Rangers. As for Houston, its AL West lead is down to 1.5 games over the Seattle Mariners. Each team will look to give itself more cushion starting Friday, with first pitch set for 7:05 p.m. ET on Apple TV+.
Baseball fans looking to get into MLB betting at the top sportsbooks can get the latest Astros vs. Yankees predictions and player props from the SportsLine Projection Model, which simulates every game 10,000 times.
The Astros send All-Star right-hander Hunter Brown to the mound Friday night. Brown has been stellar all year long with a 9-5 record and lowly 2.47 ERA. July was a bit rough with a 5.54 ERA, but Brown bounced back with seven innings of one-run ball in his first start of August against the Red Sox. On the other side, the Yankees are countering with rookie right-hander Cam Schlittler (1-2, 4.58 ERA).
Brown's strikeout prop at FanDuel Sportsbook is 6.5 (Over -130, Under +102). Schlittler's strikeout prop is 5.5 (Over +124, Under -158). The SportsLine Projection Model is siding with both Unders for these strikeout props, as Brown has been given 3.5/5 stars (projected for 6.1 strikeouts) and Schlittler has been awarded 3/5 stars (projected for 5.0 punchouts).
Aaron Judge returned from a right elbow injury recently and has just one hit (a single) in six at-bats since. He still has the shortest odds to homer in tonight's contest at +230. Astros first baseman Christian Walker is next at +390, followed by Yankees first baseman Ben Rice at +420.
It's a near pick 'em for this clash, as the Astros are -110 favorites (wager $110 to win $100) in the latest SportsLine consensus odds, while the Yankees are -109 (wager $109 to win $100) underdogs. The total sits at 7.5, with the Over at -116 and the Under priced at -104. You can find the model's latest projections and expert picks for Astros-Yankees at SportsLine.
Here are the SportsLine model's projections for Astros vs. Yankees on Friday.
HOUSTON ASTROS at NEW YORK YANKEES | 8/8 | 7:05 p.m. ET
Money line
Pick: Yankees -109
New York wins in 59% of simulations, bringing value at these odds
Run line
Pick: Yankees +1.5 (-189)
New York covers in 73% of simulations, bringing value at these odds
Over/Under
Pick: Over 7.5 (-109)
The Over hits in 61.4% of simulations
Projected score: Yankees 5.2, Astros 4.7
