PREMIUM
Rogers' 10* AL Game of the Day - 85-55-2 L142 Plays! 3-1 Tuesday!
(MLB) Toronto vs. Houston,
Money Line: -104.00 Houston (Home)
Result: Loss
Money Line: -104.00 Houston (Home)
Result: Loss
The set-up: The Toronto Blue Jays and Houston Astros have traded 2-1 victories in the first two of this important four-game series. The Astros needed 14 innings to win on Monday with the Blue Jays riding a pair of solo HRs to win last night. Toronto trails the Baltimore Orioles by one game in the AL East but leads the AL wild-card race by one game over Boston while Houston is 2 1/2 games behind the Red Sox for that final playoff spot. The Astros have been injury-free over the last 2 1/2 months (no players placed on the DL in that span) but have been besieged by injuries over the past week. Third baseman Luis Valbuena and center fielder Carlos Gomez suffered right hamstring strains in consecutive games against the Yankees, with Valbuena landing on the DL and Gomez returning to the lineup Tuesday clearly hampered.
The pitching matchup: Marco Estrada (6-4, 3.02 ERA) takes the mound for Toronto matched up against Houston's Collin McHugh (7-7, 4.75 ERA). Estrada owns just six wins on the season but ended a four-start winless stretch by beating Baltimore in his last outing. Don't overlook the fact that he's allowed three or fewer ERs in 11 straight starts and 16 of 18 overall on the season. It seems eminently unfair that the Blue Jays are just 10-8 in his starts and minus-$93 vs. the moneyline. Estrada is 1-0 with a 3.13 ERA in 10 career appearances (four starts / team is 2-2) against Houston and his counterpart in this game McHugh takes the mound off an effort in which he allowed eight ERs on 10 hits in only 1 2/3 innings while losing to Detroit on Friday. The Astros are 13-8 in McHugh's 21 starts in 2016, going plus-$390 vs. the moneyline.
The pick: Estrada has pitched MUCH better than his record indicates but all season long, the team has underachieved when he's been on the mound. Things like that have a tendency to wear on a pitcher. Yes, McHugh is off an awful effort but that performance followed consecutive victories in which he allowed only two runs and struck out 16 in 12 innings! Also note that McHugh owns a 2.79 ERA in three career starts against the Blue Jays. Toronto's bats have produced just three runs in the first two games of this series and Estrada figures to be ‘shaking his ahead' and asking, "Where's the help?"again, after this one. 10* play on the Astros
The pitching matchup: Marco Estrada (6-4, 3.02 ERA) takes the mound for Toronto matched up against Houston's Collin McHugh (7-7, 4.75 ERA). Estrada owns just six wins on the season but ended a four-start winless stretch by beating Baltimore in his last outing. Don't overlook the fact that he's allowed three or fewer ERs in 11 straight starts and 16 of 18 overall on the season. It seems eminently unfair that the Blue Jays are just 10-8 in his starts and minus-$93 vs. the moneyline. Estrada is 1-0 with a 3.13 ERA in 10 career appearances (four starts / team is 2-2) against Houston and his counterpart in this game McHugh takes the mound off an effort in which he allowed eight ERs on 10 hits in only 1 2/3 innings while losing to Detroit on Friday. The Astros are 13-8 in McHugh's 21 starts in 2016, going plus-$390 vs. the moneyline.
The pick: Estrada has pitched MUCH better than his record indicates but all season long, the team has underachieved when he's been on the mound. Things like that have a tendency to wear on a pitcher. Yes, McHugh is off an awful effort but that performance followed consecutive victories in which he allowed only two runs and struck out 16 in 12 innings! Also note that McHugh owns a 2.79 ERA in three career starts against the Blue Jays. Toronto's bats have produced just three runs in the first two games of this series and Estrada figures to be ‘shaking his ahead' and asking, "Where's the help?"again, after this one. 10* play on the Astros
