Friday Night MLB Betting Pick Between Astros at Rangers

Posted by Michael Hunt on Thursday,June 1, 2017 9:49, EDT in

MLB News, Betting Tips, Picks & Previews

Are you one of those MLB fans or bettors who prefer a well-pitched, low-scoring game to a shootout? Then Friday’s series opener between the Astros and Rangers is for you as two of the best pitchers in the American League will be on the mound. Houston is coming off a 3 game sweires against the Minnesota Twins, which they swept at 3-0. The Rangers didn’t have a good series against the Tampa Bay Rays, ending it at 1-2. The Astros will be slight MLB betting favorites.

Houston at Texas MLB Betting Prediction & Pick

.@astros: 1st time ever w/best record at end of May (38-16)

38 wins, 22 games over .500 are best at end of May since 2001 Mariners (40-12)

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 31, 2017

When: Friday, June 2, 8:05 PM ET
Where: Globe Life Park at Arlington
Probable pitchers (away/home): Dallas Keuchel/Yu Darvish
TV: MLB Extra Innings
Stream: MLB.tv
Radio: Houston / Texas
Opening MLB Lines: Astros favored by TBA

Why Bet On Houston?

The Astros are the new World Series betting favorites with the best record in baseball at 38-16 and on a seven-game winning streak. They swept the AL Central-leading Twins to open this week with three straight blowouts at Target Field.

It was 17-6 on Wednesday. George Springer reached base in all six plate appearances and hit two of Houston’s season-high six home runs. Carlos Correa, Alex Bregman, Evan Gattis and Marwin Gonzalez also went deep for the Astros, who scored 40 runs in the three games to set a franchise record for runs in a series of any length. They had 19 hits on Wednesday and 37 in the series.

Springer’s solo shot in the fifth inning traveled 433 feet with an exit velocity of 114.2 mph, and his solo bomb in the seventh went 473 feet with an exit velocity of 112.6 mph. Springer owns an .842 OPS with 13 home runs, 31 RBI, and 39 runs scored in 49 games this season for the Astros. He now has five career multihomer games. Carlos Correa finished 4-for- 6 with a homer and three RBIs Wednesday. Correa opened the game’s scoring with a two-run laser shot to left field in the top of the first inning and then smacked an RBI single in the top of the second. He had 26 RBIs in 26 games during the month of May.

He’s batting .316/.390/.524 with nine home runs and 34 RBI in 48 total games this season. It’s ace lefty and AL leading Cy Young candidate Dallas Keuchel (8-0 1.81) on the mound. Keuchel allowed one run on four hits and two walks while striking out eight over six innings in Saturday’s win over the Orioles. Keuchel, who threw just 86 pitches, could have gone longer but was fresh off the disabled list and reached his pitch limit. He pounded the bottom of the zone with his sinker, showing no signs of rust after not having pitched in 11 days.

Keuchel is 5-7 with a 4.24 ERA in his career against Texas, including 1-3 with a 5.40 ERA in four starts (one complete game) last year.

Why Bet On Texas?

The Rangers have struggled since a season-high 10-game winning streak and the Astros are leaving them in the dust. Center fielder Carlos Gomez (hamstring) took batting practice and ran sprints on Tuesday. When he landed on the disabled list May 16 the Rangers said Gomez would likely be sidelined 4-6 weeks, but it looks like he’s going to beat that timetable.

“BP is easy to hit, so I’m crushing BP,” Gomez said. “The big thing is running the bases and going side to side. Right now, things are going well.”

Shortstop Elvis Andrus’ 7 HRs are just one shy of his career-best in a season (8-2016; 7-2015/2017). The 7 HRs are 4th-most among A.L. SS (11-Francisco Lindor, 9-Carlos Correa, 8-Tim Beckham). Joey Gallo (9 HR in May) and Mike Napoli (8) were the 1 st pair of Rangers w/ 8+ HR in the same month since Sept. 2011, when Adrian Beltre (12), Ian Kinsler (11), and Napoli (8) all did it.

It’s ace Yu Darvish (5-3, 2.97) on the mound. The 30-year- old right-hander is slated to make his 12th start Friday night. Darvish is winless in his last 7 starts vs. HOU, going 0-3 with a 4.35 ERA (19 ER/39.1 IP) and receiving a total of 12 runs of support. He will be working on extended 5-days’ rest after his 4-game win streak was snapped in a 3-1 loss on Saturday at Toronto (6.0 IP, 5 H, 3 R-ER, 3 BB, 4 SO, 1 HR, 109 pitches/68 strikes).

Darvish has a 2.80 ERA (14 ER/45.0 IP) over his last 7 starts to drop season ERA from 3.28 to 2.97, 13th in A.L. He also ranks among A.L. leaders in opponents avg. (5th, .204), SO (7th, 72), and wins (T9th, 5).

Opponents are just 5-for- 54 (.093) with RISP, lowest average in MLB. Darvish has gone 4-4 with a 3.51 ERA (30 ER/77.0 IP) in 12 career starts against the Astros. Darvish is working on extended rest for the 3rd time in his last 4 starts and has gone 2-1 with a 2.42 ERA (7 ER/26.0 IP) in 4 starts with an extra day of rest this season.