The Houston Astros pay the Big Apple a visit this Friday for the start of a series against the New York Yankees. Will the Astros keep their win streak alive? Or, will the Yankees trip up the streaking Houston squad?
Catch this game live on Friday, August 4, at 7:15, Manila time
Away: Houston Astros (62 -47/31 – 22 Away)
Starting Pitcher: Chris Javier (7-2, 4.33 ERA)
The Astros keep on winning. They just completed a three-game sweep at home of the Cleveland Guardians in a series that ended in a 3-2 victory on Thursday. Houston has also won four of their last five games and seven of their last 10. They should feel good about their chances of extending their win streak this Friday when they open the series in the Bronx against New York and its struggling offense.
On the mound for the Astros is right-hander Christian Javier, who’s not looked so great of late. He gave up 16 earned runs across 21.0 innings in four starts last June. That being said, he will be pitching against a New York team that hit just .238 in its last 12 games – the fourth-worst in the American League over the last 15 days. In addition to that, Javier has held the current roster of the Yankees to only a .138 career batting average (54 plate appearances). Even Aaron Judge is 0-for-7 against Javier all-time.
Home: New York Yankees (56-52/33-26 Home)
Starting Pitcher: Clarke Schmidt (7-6, 4.39 ERA)
The Yankees’ offense has been much-maligned of late, but they did manage to show some signs of life at the plate Thursday when they scored a 7-2 win over the Tampa Bay Rays to prevent a sweep and snap a three-game losing skid. Giancarlo Stanton and Gleyber Torres, whose bats had been cold, broke out of a slump and combined for a 5-for-8 line with four RBIs and a home run. That’s a strong message sent to Javier, who has been so vulnerable in his last several starts.
Hopefully for Clarke Schmidt, the offense will still be there to provide him ample run support when he makes his start versus the Astros. In his most recent start, the righty allowed three earned runs on five hits in 5.0 innings of an 8-3 road win over the Baltimore Orioles last Sunday. He had a 4.43 ERA in five starts last July but went 4-0 that month.
PREDICTIONS:
Spread: The Astros (-1.5) win.
Over/Under: The total (9.0) hits the Over.
