Indians vs Astros ALDS Game 1 Odds & Expert Pick.

Indians vs Astros ALDS Game 1 Odds & Expert Pick

Written by on October 3, 2018


The past two American League pennant winners face off in Houston on Friday afternoon as the AL Central champion Cleveland Guardians visit the defending World Series champion Houston Astros in Game 1 of the ALDS. Looks to be a great pitching matchup, with Houston as home MLB odds favorite.
 

How to Bet Indians vs Astros ALDS Game 1 Odds & Game Info

   

Why Bet on Cleveland?


Cleveland is heading to its fourth postseason in the past six campaigns. The club’s 545-425 record since the start of 2013 is the best in the A.L. and second-best overall behind the Dodgers. The Indians clinched their third consecutive A.L. Central division title on September 15, their earliest clinch date since doing so on September 8, 1999.
 
Will the Tribe have catcher Yan Gomes for Game 1? He didn’t participate in Tuesday’s intrasquad game. Gomes required stitches for his right thumb after suffering a laceration during Saturday’s game against the Royals. While he’s getting some extra time to heal, the expectation is that he’ll be ready to go for Game 1 of the ALDS on Friday. The Tribe boosted their playoff chances by trading for ex-AL MVP Josh Donaldson at the end of August. He’ll be the every-day third baseman in the playoffs.
 
It’s two-time Cy Young winner Corey Kluber (20-7, 2.89) on the mound, and he might win a third Cy this year. Kluber didn’t factor into the decision in Saturday’s 9-4 loss to the Royals, allowing three runs on seven hits and two walks over five innings while striking out six. The right-hander got pulled after 80 pitches (59 strikes) in a meaningless game for Cleveland, and he will be well-rested Friday. Kluber’s 20 wins were a career high and he finished with 222 strikeouts — his fifth straight campaign with at least 200 K’s.
 
Kluber faced Houston twice this year and struck out 17 in 13 ⅓ innings. The Astros managed three extra-base hits against him and scored two earned runs.
 
Tribe starters recorded 98 quality starts this season, tops in MLB and Cleveland’s most in a single campaign since notching 108 in 1968. Overall this year, Indians starters rank 2nd in the A.L. and 3rd in MLB with a 3.40 ERA (HOU – 3.17, LAD – 3.24). Cleveland starting pitchers rank 2nd in MLB with 1,060 strikeouts, while they have allowed just 242 walks (5th-fewest in MLB). Indians pitchers have recorded 30 starts with at least 10 strikeouts, 2nd-most in MLB behind Houston (31). The Tribe’s 30 starts are tied with the 2002 D-backs for 4th-most in MLB history, behind Houston, the 2001 D-backs (35) and the 1973 Angels (32).
 

Team Stats

Offense
  • Runs: 5.05
  • Hits:  8.93
  • Walks: 3.42
  • Strike Outs: 7.34
Defense
  • Runs: 4.00
  • Hits: 8.31
  • Walks: 2.51
  • Strike Outs: 9.53
 

Why Bet on Houston?


The Astros would have home-field advantage against every team in the 2018 playoffs other than if they face the Boston Red Sox in the ALCS. Including this season, the Astros have made the postseason 12 times, including seven division titles, as they won the NL West in 1980 and 1986, the NL Central in 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2001, and the AL West last season and this.
 
Houston is the only team in Major League history to win three different divisions and the only team in MLB history to win the AL (2017) and NL (2005) pennant. The Astros reached the century mark in victories for just the third time in franchise history and are the first team to post consecutive 100 win seasons since the 2002-04 Yankees. They are just the fifth defending WS champion to win 100 games in a season since 1970.
 
Second baseman Jose Altuve was last year’s AL MVP but won’t be repeating. He missed some time this year injured and finished with a slash of .315/.384/.449 with 13 homers, 61 RBI and 17 steals in 21 attempts over 137 games. Very good numbers but not quite his amazing 2017 ones.
  Indians vs Astros should be a close victory for the Astros.  
Houston starts Justin Verlander (16-9, 2.52) in Game 1. In his final regular-season start, Verlander struck out 10 and allowed three hits and a walk across six scoreless innings during Game 1 of Saturday’s doubleheader against the Orioles. He did not factor in the decision. Verlander exited after six innings with a 3-0 lead, but the bullpen promptly allowed three runs during the seventh to cost him a shot at the win.
 
Verlander had one the finest, most dominant seasons of his lengthy and likely Hall of Fame career. He led all AL pitchers in WHIP (0.90), WAR (6.8), strikeouts (290) and quality starts (26), ranked second in innings (214) and third in ERA (2.52) and in opponent batting average (.200). Verlander shined down the stretch for the ‘Stros, posting a 3-0 mark in five September starts with a 1.09 ERA and a .143 opponent average.
 
The 35-year-old right-hander was acquired last August to pitch in games of significance, and he posted a 2.21 ERA over six postseason outings (five starts) in 2017, including a memorable, seven-shutout-inning masterpiece in Game 6 of the AL Championship Series that helped him earn ALCS MVP Award honors. In his postseason career, he’s 11-6 with a 3.07 ERA in 22 games (21 starts).
 

Team Stats

Offense
  • Runs: 4.92
  • Hits: 8.56
  • Walks: 3.49
  • Strike Outs: 7.39
Defense
  • Runs: 3.30
  • Hits: 7.18
  • Walks: 2.69
  • Strike Outs: 10.41
 

Indians vs Astros ALDS Game 1 Betting Trends

  • Cleveland is 69-50 against the money line against right-handed starters this season
  • Houston is 39-35 against the money line when playing against a team with a winning record this season
  • Houston is 4-3 against Cleveland this season
  • 5 of 7 games in this series have gone Over the Total this season
  • Verlander is 20-24 when starting against Cleveland with an ERA of 4.68 and a WHIP of 1.315
  • Kluber is 5-3 when starting against Houston with an ERA of 3.04 and a WHIP of 1.207
 

Expert MLB Playoffs Prediction for Indians vs Astros


Love the under! Go Houston for a 1-0 series lead.