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All times Eastern | Game odds via SportsLine consensus
🔥 The Hot Ticket
Astros at Orioles, 7:05 p.m. | Watch live: MLB.tv
- The Pick: Astros (-126)
- Key trend: The Astros have won five of their last eight road games.
Two of the American League's top teams will go head-to-head when the Orioles host the Astros , and I'm expecting Houston to continue to roll despite a tough matchup.
The pitching matchup favors the Astros in this spot as starting pitcher Framber Valdez gets the nod. Valdez had an uninspiring stretch before a massive bounce back, surrendering 15 earned runs across five starts. You may recall that rebound from last Tuesday night, though -- Valdez tossed a no-hitter against the Guardians. Valdez is 5-2 on the road and he's allowing just a .230 opponent batting average in those games, so I'm counting on him to keep the Orioles' hot bats at bay.
Grayson Rodriguez is one of Baltimore's highly-touted young arms, but his rookie campaign has been one to forget. Rodriguez has a 2-3 record and a 6.09 ERA in 14 starts on the year. Rodriguez's issues stem from his vulnerability to giving up the long ball this year. The O's righty has given up 13 home runs in 2023 in just 68 innings. In addition, Houston has slugged the 10th-most home runs this season, so it's possible that they'll crank a long ball or two against Rodriguez.
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💰 More MLB picks
Rangers at Athletics, 9:40 p.m. | Watch live: MLB.tv
- The Pick: Over 7.5 (-113)
- Key trend: The over is 4-2 in the Athletics' last six games.
If you've been reading this newsletter consistently, then you'll know that I've been a huge supporter of the Rangers all year. You can take the Rangers moneyline on most nights and come out on the winning end. The moneyline is a bit too rich here, but I have no problem backing the over.
The Rangers are the most lethal offense in all of baseball. They lead the majors in runs, hits, doubles, and RBI. Texas is averaging 6.2 runs over their past five games, and have scored five or more runs in each of those contests. When you have four players that have slugged at least 15 home runs on the year, runs are definitely always going to be on the menu.
The Rangers should be able to score a handful of runs against A's starter JP Sears. The third-year pitcher has had a tough year, posting a 2-8 record and a 4.07 ERA. Sears has struggled even more at home as he owns a 4.41 ERA in seven home starts, and has yet to win a start.
Rangers at Athletics, 9:40 p.m. | Watch live: MLB.tv
- The Pick: Max Scherzer Over 7.5 Strikeouts (-110)
- Key trend: Scherzer recorded nine strikeouts in his first start with the Rangers.
As stated above, I'm a huge fan of the Rangers in this spot. I'm also a huge supporter of Rangers trade deadline acquisition Max Scherzer on the mound against the league's worst offense.
Scherzer had a rough start to his first outing as a Ranger as he surrendered three earned runs to the Chicago White Sox in the first inning. Still, he managed to settle down and didn't give up another run throughout his six innings of work. Scherzer managed to tally nine strikeouts. In each of his last three starts, Scherzer has tallied at least seven strikeouts, so he should be right around the eight-strikeout bar that we need. It also doesn't hurt that the A's have racked up the seventh-most strikeouts in all of baseball. Look for Scherzer to mow down his fair share of A's in this spot.
