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Off the first loss of his professional career, Pittsburgh Pirates ace rookie righty Paul Skenes returns to the mound on Monday night as the Bucs open a series at the Houston Astros.

Pittsburgh is a solid favorite on the MLB odds according to MyBookie Sportsbook.

MLB Lines: Pirates -160, Astros +140 (total 7.5)
Score Prediction: Pirates 4, Astros 3

Pittsburgh Pirates Moneyline -156

Pittsburgh is in a stretch where it plays opponents with a .500 winning percentage or better for the next 18 consecutive games.

The Pirates have won 10 straight and 13 of their last 14 games when scoring at least four runs.

They have drawn at least one walk in 70 straight games, which is the longest active streak in MLB (the longest streak for the season is 75 straight games by the Phillies from 4/15 to 7/9).

Pittsburgh also leads the majors in stolen base percentage at 83.8.

Nick Gonzales

The Pirates are listing starting second baseman Gonzales as day-to-day. He was removed from Saturday’s game at Arizona with left groin discomfort.

Gonzales grounded out in the top of the sixth inning off of Diamondbacks starting pitcher Brandon Pfaadt.

While running to first base, he pulled up, grabbing his groin, and struggled to make it back to the dugout.

Nick was called up on May 9 and has stabilized the second base position. He has hit .264 with 64 hits in 245 at-bats, along with 13 doubles, two triples, five home runs, 39 RBI and three stolen bases in 65 games.

Gonzales had a career-high eight-game hitting streak snapped before leaving Saturday.

Bryan Reynolds

Pittsburgh’s best hitter, outfielder Reynolds, was placed on the bereavement list on Friday but likely will be back Monday.

Players placed on MLB’s bereavement list are given a minimum of three days off.

A two-time All-Star, Reynolds leads the club in batting average (.288), home runs (18), RBIs (61), on-base percentage (.353), slugging (.485), OPS (.838), triples (3) and hits (117).

Paul Skenes on the Hill

It’s ace rookie righty Skenes on the mound here. Skenes (6-1) took his first pro loss last Tuesday against the Cardinals, allowing two runs on four hits while striking out eight over 8.1 innings.

He held St. Louis to one run on a Nolan Arenado solo homer through eight dominant innings.

Paul would come out for the ninth, making a bid for his first complete game, but Michael Siani led off the frame with a double before eventually scoring on an Alec Burleson hit.

Skenes were then pulled after 104 pitches. Skenes became the first MLB rookie ever to get at least 25 outs, allow fewer than five hits, walk no one and strike out at least eight in a game yet lose.

His 8⅓ innings marked the longest start by a Pirates rookie since Zach Duke also did so on Aug. 1, 2005. It was Skenes first loss since May 2023 while at LSU.

He has held opponents to two runs or fewer in each of his last seven outings, while logging seven or more strikeouts in 11 of his 12 starts this season.

His ERA sits at a pristine 1.93 with a 0.87 WHIP and 97:13 K:BB across 74.2 innings.

Excluding his start against the Mets on July 5, when the Pirates cruised to a 14-2 win, they have scored just 10 runs in Skenes’ last six appearances.

This will be his first career outing vs. Houston.

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Houston Astros Moneyline +127

Houston remains without All-Star outfielder Kyle Tucker. Astros general manager Dana Brown said last week that he’s “optimistic” Tucker (shin) will return from the 10-day injured list before September.

He was injured way back on June 3 and has upped his on-field activities in recent days, but manager Joe Espada noted that Tucker still doesn’t have full strength in his leg.

He will need to be able to play the outfield and run the bases without discomfort before he’s ready to rejoin the big club.

Jameson Taillon

The Astros are expected to add starting pitching by Tuesday’s trade deadline and have been linked to the Cubs’ Taillon, among a few others.

The 32-year-old right-hander has been phenomenal this season for Chicago with a sparkling 2.96 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and 78/21 K/BB ratio across 100 1/3 innings (17 starts).

Detroit’s Jack Flaherty is another possibility. Brown said the Astros ideally would like to get players who are under control past this season, but they’re not opposed to a rental.

Astros’ Pitchers

Since May 22, the Astros pitching staff ranks second in the majors in ERA (3.42) and the Houston rotation ranks third in ERA over that span (3.43), despite having five starters currently on the IL: Luis Garcia, Cristian Javier, Lance McCullers Jr., José Urquidy and Justin Verlander.

Josh Hader

Closer Hader has successfully converted 20 consecutive save opportunities, which ranks as the third-longest, single-season streak in franchise history, trailing only streaks by RHP Brad Lidge (24 in 2005) and LHP Billy Wagner (22 in 2003).

In his last 20 save chances, Hader owns a 1.83 ERA (4ER/19.2IP), a .125 opponent average and a 0.71 WHIP.

Jake Bloss on the Hill

It’s rookie righty Bloss (0-1) making his fourth big-league start for the Astros and first career vs. Pittsburgh.

Bloss took the loss in last Tuesday’s game against the Athletics, allowing five runs on six hits and a walk while striking out five over four innings.

He began by allowing a leadoff triple before Brent Rooker took him deep to put the Astros in an early 2-0 hole.

Lawrence Butler was next to homer off him in the third, before Seth Brown and Zack Gelof went back-to-back in the fourth.

Bloss hasn’t been able to cover more than four innings in any of his three starts since getting promoted just over a month ago, and he’ll likely see his time in the majors temporarily come to an end once Verlander (neck) returns from the injured list.

Bloss has a 6.94 ERA, 1.63 WHIP and 11:3 K:BB in 11.2 innings.

Bet Pirates at Astros MLB Odds

When: Monday, 8:10 PM ET
Where: Minute Maid Park
Pitchers (away/home): Paul Skenes/Jake Bloss
TV: MLB Extra Innings
Stream/game day audio: https://www.mlb.com/live-stream-games/