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Two-time AL Cy Young winner Justin Verlander of the Astros is the betting favorite to win it for a third time, and he returns to the mound on Thursday in a potential playoff preview in Cleveland. Houston is a solid favorite on the MLB odds.

How to Bet Astros at Guardians MLB Odds & TV Info

When: Thursday, 7:10 PM ET
Where: Progressive Field
Probable pitchers (away/home): Justin Verlander/Zach Plesac
TV: MLB Extra Innings
Stream/gameday audio: https://www.mlb.com/live-stream-games/
Opening MLB Lines: Astros -195, Guardians +175 (total 7.5)

Why Bet on Houston?

The Astros easily handled Boston 6-1 on Wednesday. Jose Altuve went 4-for-4 with a double and a run scored. That makes 34 four-hit games for Altuve, which ties him with Craig Biggio for the most in franchise history. Altuve has never had a five-hit game. Trade acquisition Trey Mancini launched his first home run as a member of Astros. Rich Hill was the victim, with Mancini taking the southpaw deep with a two-run shot in the second inning. It was his only hit in four trips to the plate.

First baseman Yuli Gurriel didn’t start Wednesday even though he is in the midst of a seven-game hitting streak in which he’s hit .379 with four doubles, five runs, two RBI and three stolen bases. Outfielder Michael Brantley said Wednesday that he still has no timetable for a return to the Astros’ active roster. Brantley has been out since late June because of lingering right shoulder discomfort, and he’s yet to make much tangible progress.

Yordan Alvarez is having an MVP-caliber season, as he leads the Majors in OPS ( .076), OBP (.413) and wRC+ (216). He also ranks second in the AL in SLG (.663) and HR (30) and third in RBI (71). Additionally, Alvarez leads the Majors in hard-hit percentage (61.4%).

It’s Justin Verlander on the mound here. Verlander (14-3) gave up one earned run on five hits and a walk while striking out five over 7.2 innings to earn the win in an 11-1 rout of the Mariners last Friday. Verlander continued his push for the third Cy Young Award of his career by pitching another gem. The right-hander is now 5-1 with a 2.34 ERA over 42.1 innings of work against the Mariners this season. The 39-year-old veteran leads MLB with 14 wins and boasts a sparking 1.81 ERA.

The Astros’ 34-21 (.618) record on the road is the best in the AL. Houston has finished with a record of .500 or better on each of their 8 road trips this season (above .500 on 7 trips).

Why Bet on Cleveland?

Cleveland was a 7-4 home winner over Arizona on Wednesday. Amed Rosario hit a mammoth three-run homer and rookie Oscar Gonzalez added a solo shot in the win. Rosario’s 450-foot drive to dead center was the longest of the season at Progressive Field, topping the 447-footer by Boston’s Alex Verdugo on June 25. Gonzalez homered off Kevin Ginkel in the sixth and doubled home a run in the seventh. José Ramírez and Myles Straw also drove in a run as Cleveland remained one game behind AL Central-leading Minnesota.

Rosario went 2 for 4 and scored twice, taking over the AL lead with 118 hits. Ramirez is currently on pace to record 134 RBI this season, which would mark the most by a Clevelander since Juan Gonzalez compiled 140 RBI in 2001.

Steven Kwan singled to push his hitting streak to 17 games for the Guardians, the longest by a rookie since Pittsburgh’s Ke’Bryan Hayes had a 19-gamer in 2020-2021. It’s longest single-season hit streak by a Guardian since Michael Brantley hit safely in 19 consecutive contests from May 9-30, 2018, and the longest run by a Cleveland rookie since another 19-game streak by Brantley from Aug. 30-Sept. 19, 2010.

It’s Zach Plesac (2-9) on the mound here. Plesac allowed five earned runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out seven across five innings to take the loss last Saturday against the Rays. Plesac allowed multiple home runs in a game for only the second time this season, which accounted for four of his five earned runs. He did manage 17 swinging strikes on 92 total pitches but that wasn’t enough to avoid his fifth consecutive losing decision. After 19 starts, Plesac has a 4.33 ERA and a 79:28 K:BB across 104 frames.

Plesac came into last Saturday’s game with the second lowest run support in the MLB with 2.73. Only Kansas City’s Brad Keller has worse run support. Plesac has gotten one run or less in 11 of his 18 starts and has received no runs in four of them.