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The Houston Astros open an interleague series in San Francisco on Monday night likely without two of their best hitters and two of the best in the American League in Kyle Tucker and Alex Bregman yet are still short favorites on the MLB odds.

Houston at San Francisco: 2024 MLB Expert Analysis

MLB Pick Astros -118, Giants -102 (total 8)
Score Prediction Giants 4, Astros 3

Houston Astros Moneyline -123

Houston for sure, Monday will be without outfielder and AL MVP candidate Kyle Tucker as he’s on the injured list with a bruised right shin and won’t return until likely at least Friday. Tucker was off to a fabulous start with 19 homers across 262 plate appearances. He’s running a .266/.395/.584 batting line with 46 walks against 41 strikeouts over 60 games.

Third baseman Alex Bregman, who might be the top free agent in MLB next winter, was forced to exit Sunday’s game against the Angels after being hit on the wrist by a sinker, but X-rays came back clean. Still a good chance he misses a game or two. It was the second time, since Wednesday, he’s been hit in the hand area by a pitch. Mauricio Dubon will likely be the new starter in the hot corner if Bregman has to miss any time, with 13 career starts at the position. The utility man is having a solid season at the plate, on pace for potentially his best year yet. He’s currently slashing .296/.320/.394.

Houston had a two-game winning streak snapped Sunday in a 9-7 loss to the Halos despite Yordan Alvarez going 3-for-4 with a two-run home run, two doubles and two runs scored. Alvarez is seeing the ball well lately, going 19-for-43 (.442) with four homers, five doubles, 11 RBI and just three strikeouts over his last 11 games. Alvarez is up to 13 homers, 33 RBIs, 37 runs scored, 15 doubles and three steals while slashing .296/.369/.514 over 64 contests on the year. He’s picked up more time in left field recently, with Chas McCormick sliding over to right to cover for the absence of Tucker.

Jose Altuve went 2-for-5 with an RBI and a steal Sunday. Altuve has been steady over his last 15 games, going 17-for-61 (.279) with two steals, four RBI and five runs scored in that span. He hasn’t homered since May 20. Overall, the future Hall of Famer is slashing .288/.340/.436 with nine homers, nine steals, 22 RBI and 37 runs scored over 64 contests.

Rookie right-hander Spencer Arrighetti (3-5, 5.79 ERA) is on the hill here. After he took a line drive off his left calf and was lifted after three innings in his most recent start against the Cardinals this past Tuesday, Arrighetti’s availability for this week had been in some doubt, but he has been cleared and not expected to face any major restrictions with his pitch count. Arrighetti is only in the majors because the Astros have been hammered by injury in the rotation, with both Jose Urquidy and Cristian Javier lost for the season to Tommy John surgery.

Since May 9, Astros closer Josh Hader has gone 2-0 with 6 saves and a 0.68 ERA (1ER/13.1IP) over his last 11 games, with 21 Ks in 13.1 IP in that span (14.18 SO/9IP). On the season, Hader has converted 9 of his 10 save chances, including nine straight, dating back to April 7.

The Astros are 13-18 on the road in 2024 but have gone 10-8 since April 27.

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MyBookie MLB Betting Lines this Week

San Francisco Giants Moneyline -107

The Giants had a three-game winning streak snapped Sunday in a 7-2 loss at Texas. Outfielder Mike Yastrzemski was a lone bright spot in going 1-for-4 with a solo home run. Yastrzemski has gone 4-for-15 with two homers and four RBI over his last five contests. The outfielder has seen his playing time dip with the emergence of Heliot Ramos, though there’s room for both of them in the lineup vs. right-handed pitchers. Yastrzemski is at a .214/.286/.393 slash line with seven homers, 25 RBI, 20 runs scored and one stolen base over 186 plate appearances this year.

Third baseman Matt Chapman (hamstring cramp) missed only his second game this season Sunday. “He’s a little banged up,” manager Bob Melvin said. Chapman experienced the cramp on a fielding play Saturday. Casey Schmitt started at third base in place of Chapman, who is currently riding a career-best 25-game on-base streak. That streak is the longest by a Giant since Eduardo Núñez reached base in 33 straight games from May 12-July 16, 2017. Chapman has a slash line of .295/.407/.526 with 22 runs, four home runs and 14 RBI over the streak. His 10 doubles in that span (since May 11) are tied for most in MLB. We expect Chapman back in there tonight.

Righty Keaton Winn was activated off the injured list to start Sunday’s finale, and the team sent Tyler Fitzgerald to Triple-A Sacramento to make room. He was batting .273 with a .742 OPS and one home run over 27 games in the majors this year.

San Francisco has hit 13 home runs over the past 10 games. Over the past 10 games, the Giants are slugging .376 with 2.3 extra-base hits per outing. Over the last 10 outings, San Francisco has a .232 batting average with 79 total hits (7.9 per game). The team is averaging only 3.7 runs in that span, however, with an on-base percentage of .310.

Lefty Kyle Harrison takes the hill tonight. The 22-year-old dropped to 4-3 on the season in last Tuesday’s 8-5 loss to the Diamondbacks, allowing four runs (three earned) on eight hits and no walks while striking out five over six innings. Harrison worked a pair of clean innings before the Snakes opened up the third with four consecutive hits, leading to three runs, and then tacked on an unearned run in the fourth.

Despite giving up some hard hits early, Harrison was able to buckle down and complete six innings for the first time since May 7. He also managed to not walk a batter for the first time since April 26. Harrison has now given up 20 hits over his last 11 innings, though that also comes with a 10:1 K:BB. He has a 4.18 ERA, 1.39 WHIP and 65:22 K:BB on the season. Harrison has never faced Houston.

San Francisco is 23-1 (.958) when allowing three or fewer runs, which is the fewest number of losses, and best winning percentage in the majors.

Bet Astros at Giants MLB Odds

When: Monday, 9:45 PM ET
Where: Oracle Park
Pitchers (away/home): Spencer Arrighetti/Kyle Harrison
TV: MLB Extra Innings
Stream/gameday audio: https://www.mlb.com/live-stream-games/