May 5, 2023; Seattle, Washington, USA; Houston Astros right fielder Kyle Tucker (30) hits a two-run home run against the Seattle Mariners during the ninth inning at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
The Houston Astros have lost two straight series, but when it came to beating up on division rivals, they were ready. Last night they took down the Seattle Mariners 6-4 with a 2-run homer from Kyle Tucker in the top of the ninth to break the tie. Now, Houston sits at 17-15 and the Mariners are 15-17, still under .500 as we get deeper into May.
Can Houston continue to knock around AL West opponents? Tonight, they’ll hand the ball to J.P. France to make his major league debut on the mound against Marco Gonzales. Gonzalez is making his sixth start of the season with a 4.74 ERA and a 2-0 record. Let’s get into the odds for Game 2 between the Mariners and Astros in Seattle.
Astros vs. Mariners odds, run line and total
Astros vs. Mariners prediction and pick
It feels like the Astros just won’t let the Mariners get a win. They swept them in the playoffs last season and refused to lose deep into extra innings in Game 3 in Seattle. Last night it was a piece of clutch hitting from Tucker who won it with his ninth inning homer. The Astros offense has frankly been a disaster, considering the expectations, so far this season, only Tucker and Yordan Alvarez have been regularly producing and they drove in five of the six runs last night.
The Astros might not need anyone other than their left-handed sluggers for a lot of matchups, but against Marco Gonzalez they could use some help. Gonzalez is allowing a .566 OPS to lefties so far this year, but right-handers are hitting him hard with three homers and an OPS of .880. Despite that, the Astros are still a slight favorite on the road even with a pitcher making his major league debut.
Over the past seven days the Astros are 26th in OPS and have only scored 19 runs, six of them coming last night. Their notable right-handed hitters aren’t giving them much production, Alex Bregman has a .682 OPS and Jose Abreu a .524 OPS. Houston is only two games better than Seattle this year and there isn’t anything indicating that they should be road favorites in this game. I’ll take Seattle and hope that they can finally beat their AL West big brother.
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Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change