Astros vs Tigers Preview: Houston Looks to Bounce Back
Astros Fall Into Tie for Second Place in AL West
The Houston Astros will look to shake off the effects of a 17-1 thumping at the hands of Boston, as they open a three-game series at Detroit on Friday. The loss dropped the Astros into a second-place tie in the AL West with Seattle. Houston is still holding onto a wild card spot in the MLB standings 2023. The Tigers aren’t completely out of the playoff picture, but trail Minnesota by seven games. So it will take a minor miracle for Detroit to sneak in there. The Astros vs Tigers preview shows Framber Valdez and Matt Manning as the scheduled starters for Friday’s opener.
Valdez is 9-9 for the Astros this season with a 3.55 ERA. Houston has gone 13-11 with Valdez on the mound and 6-4 when he starts on the road. The Astros are scoring just 4.08 runs when Valdez pitches. Manning is 5-4 with a 4.31 ERA and Detroit is 6-6 when he starts and 1-3 at home. The Tigers have allowed 10 runs or more in three of his four home starts. Detroit shutout Toronto in his other home start. Valdez and the Astros are -170 over Detroit and the total is 8.5.
The Astros are No. 12 in team batting average and No. 7 in runs scored. Kyle Tucker has been the main bat for the Astros, with his 95 RBI tied for second among the MLB stats leaders. The Astros pitchers are No. 8 in team ERA, dropping slightly after allowing the 17 runs to Boston. Houston has converted 37 saves in 53 attempts.
Detroit is No. 27 in team batting average and No. 29 in runs scored. The only team the Tigers have outscored is Oakland this season. Detroit has been a little better pitching, sitting at No. 19 in team ERA. The Tigers have converted 32 out of 50 save attempts.
Friday’s Game
Valdez has been pretty solid this season and deserves a little better than the Astros have given him so far. Manning hasn’t pitched all that bad and has been one of the Tigers better pitchers this MLB season. The game means more to Houston, but it’s never easy laying -170 on the road.
Especially this season, where road favorites of -170 and higher have been poor bets, going 89-70. But due to the price, these road favorites are showing a flat bet loss of $5,192. The over may be the way to go in this one.
Saturday’s Game
The Astros vs Tigers preview shows Hunter Brown and Eduardo Rodriguez as the starters for Saturday. Brown is 9-9 with a 4.50 ERA and Houston is 12-11 in the games he’s started. On the road, the Astros are 8-5 when Brown starts and 4-9 in totals. Rodriguez has been a bright spot for Detroit pitchers this season.
He’s sporting a 9-6 record and a stellar 3.03 ERA. Detroit is 10-9 when he starts and 8-11 in totals. At home, the Tigers are 5-3 and 5-3 in totals. The total will likely be 8 or 8.5 in this game and there’s a little bit of value in the under.
Sunday’s Game
The Astros vs Tigers preview has an early game for Sunday, one of three MLB game times starting at 1:40 p.m. EST. Justin Verlander returns to Detroit to face his original team. The Tigers will start Alex Faedo. Verlander is 9-6 with a 3.19 ERA. Houston is 3-1 in the four games he’s started for them since coming over from the New York Mets.
His last three starts have all gone over the total. Faedo is 2-4 with a 4.91 ERA this season. The Tigers have gone 3-7 when he starts. The problem for Faedo has been not being able to stand runners on base. A pitcher shouldn’t have an ERA of nearly 5.00 when they have a WHIP of .97. But that’s what Faedo has managed to do.
He’s allowed 50 baserunners in 51 1/3 innings, but 31 of those runners have scored, with 28 of those being earned runs. Allowing 10 home runs hasn’t helped, but he’s too good to be allowing so many runners to score. Verlander is going to be overpriced in this game, but it’s a little too hard to pull the trigger on the Tigers.
For more MLB betting news, Astros vs Tigers odds analysis, and more, visit Point Spreads Sports Magazine.
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