The Royals knocked off the mighty Astros on Wednesday, but don’t count on two straight wins for KC. The Astros are hitting lefties at a .310 clip recently. No disrespect, but Royals starter Bubic is a struggling southpaw at the moment. Opposing hitters roughed him up to the tune of .302 in June. Not a good combo if you are a Royals fan. Bubic doesn’t pitch for length and the Royals’ bullpen has struggled all year, managing just a 5.35 ERA in their last 10 games.

The Astros are tops of the Bops at the moment, hitting for a massive OPS. They are a very good home team, and have Verlander on the mound. It is not like Verlander never has a bad game (he has had two this year), but he is as dependable as any pitcher, and held the Yankees and the Mets to 1 and 0 runs in his last two starts. He pitches for great length, and the Astros relief corps are the best in the business.

The Royals are a very poor road team, and dismal as a road underdog. This matchup is a mismatch, and the odds-makers agree. Anything can and will happen in an MLB game, but I am on the Astros on the run line on this one. Take Houston at - 1 1/2.