MLB Betting Lines and Preview for Yankees vs Astros

With so many playoff matchups in recent years, the Houston Astros have become bitter rivals as they open a regular-season series from Yankee Stadium on Tuesday night with the Yanks as short favorites on the MLB odds in a national TV game.

New York has better numbers than Houston, an important factor that is reflected in the standings of their respective divisions.

The Astros are one of the most disappointing teams in the majors at 12-22. They had been playing better recently but enter on a two-game skid after a crushing 5-4 home loss to Seattle on Sunday as the Astros fell to 1-9 in one-run games. Crushing as star closer Josh Hader gave up the tie-breaking solo homer by Seattle catcher Cal Raleigh on an 0-2 pitch in the top of the ninth.

Hader, who is not having a good first season in Houston, said he was trying to go up and in and missed. He had thrown sliders on the first two pitches but then a sinker on the third. The southpaw said there was no guarantee a third consecutive slider would have been as effective against Raleigh as the first two pitches of the at-bat were.

“There’s always that second guess that I could have thrown a slider, but I could have hung a slider and he could have hit it out, too,” he said. “Obviously, it’s always easier to second guess once the damage is done. Just didn’t execute my pitch. At the end of the day, execute your pitches, and sometimes they work out for you.”

The Astros haven’t had many leads in the ninth, so Hader has been called upon in games the club has been trailing or tied more than it’s been ahead. He’s been pitching out of his closer role for much of the year but has a 6.14 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP through 14 2/3 innings.

The future Hall of Famer struggled to get ahead in the count for much of the contest and has now issued at least three walks in back-to-back starts, though he’s still held opposing teams to two or fewer runs in all three outings to open the campaign. Wednesday also marked Verlander’s first start this season in which he’s gone at least seven innings.

He ranks 12th all-time in MLB history in strikeouts with 3,355, immediately trailing RHP Max Scherzer (3367) on that all-time list, and has a strong chance to move into the top 10 all-time in strikeouts this season, needing to pass only Scherzer and RHP Greg Maddux (3371). Verlander leads all active players with his 258 career wins.

He has a long history against the Yankees, making 27 career regular season starts vs. NYY and another 9 in the postseason. His most memorable might be Game 2 of the 2017 ALCS, a complete game, in which he struck out 13 en route to an Astros 2-1 walkoff win.

In his regular-season career, Verlander is 10-9 with a 3.41 ERA vs. New York — but was 0-2 with a 5.54 ERA in 2023 against the Yanks.

Odds -125

“Wins are precious in this league,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “It’s really good to shake hands three times into an off day. It does a lot for the soul.”

Juan Soto continued his torrid early start Sunday by going 1-for-4 with three RBI. Soto had a rough go of it against Detroit starter Tarik Skubal, striking out twice against the tough lefty. However, Soto fared much better against southpaw reliever Andrew Chafin, clearing the bases with a seventh inning double to break a 2-2 tie and provide the winning runs for the Yankees. Soto’s average stands at .316 with a .980 OPS, including eight homers, 28 RBI, 23 runs and four steals. The RBI were his first over five games in May.

Aaron Judge went 2-for-3 and launched his seventh home run of the season on Sunday. Judge opened the scoring in the contest, crushing a 399-foot solo shot off of Skubal in the home half of the first inning. He also doubled, drew a walk and struck out in the ballgame. On the season, the 32-year-old superstar is now hitting .220/.350/.439 with seven homers, 20 RBI and two stolen bases.

The Yankees have yet to have the services of infielder and leadoff hitter DJ LeMahieu this season due to a broken foot suffered this spring. Boone said Sunday that LeMahieu recently resumed hitting but that the veteran infielder may not be “that close to being ready for rehab [games].” LeMahieu was shut down for a week in late April after he experienced swelling in his foot during a rehab game.

It’s 25-year-old righty Luis Gil (2-1) on the mound Tuesday. Gil picked up the win last Thursday, allowing two hits and one walk with five strikeouts over 6.1 scoreless innings against Baltimore. Gil rebounded from his first bad start of the season, completing six innings for the first time in 2024.

Those 16.1 innings pitched are the most among MLB relievers who have not allowed an earned run this season. Holmes’ season-opening 16-game streak without allowing an earned run is the sixth-longest in franchise history.

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