Justin Verlander looks to continue his dominance over the New York Yankees and help the Houston Astros keep pace in the three-way race for the AL West as Houston welcomes the Bombers to Minute Maid Park for a three-game set this weekend. First pitch of Friday night’s opener is set for 8:10 p.m. ET, and the game will be broadcast on Amazon Prime Video in the Yankees market and AT&T SportsNet Southwest in the Astros market. Verlander (10-6, 3.06 ERA) will get the ball for Houston, while New York sends lefty Carlos Rodon (1-4, 5.97) to the mound.
The Yankees took three out of four from the Tigers this week, but New York is still just playing out the string for the final month at 65-69 and 10.5 games back of the third and final AL Wild Card spot. At this point, the team is just looking for positive signs for 2024: Top prospects Jasson Dominguez and Austin Wells are set to make their long-awaited MLB debuts this weekend, and Rodon has a chance to finish strong and convince the Bronx that the big contract he signed last winter wasn’t a mistake.
After sweeping the Red Sox at Fenway, Houston enters the weekend on a five-game winning streak and just a couple points of winning percentage back of the Mariners for the AL West lead. Verlander has yet to really get rolling in his second go-around with his old team — and plenty of questions remain about the rest of this rotation, from the mercurial Framber Valdez and Cristian Javier to whether rookie Hunter Brown can hold up — but with Yordan Alvarez, Kyle Tucker and Jose Altuve rolling, Houston can still slug it out with anyone.
The Astros are -175 moneyline favorites at DraftKings Sportsbook, while the Yankees are +145 underdogs. The total is set at 8.5.
Yankees vs. Astros
Pitchers: Carlos Rodon vs. Justin Verlander
First pitch: 8:10 p.m. ET
Yankees local broadcast: Amazon Prime Video
Astros local broadcast: AT&T SportsNet Houston
Live stream: Prime Video, Prime Video app.
Moneyline odds: Astros -175, Yankees +145
To watch Friday’s game you’ll need either a subscription to Amazon Prime or a subscription to Prime Video. An Amazon Prime subscription is available for $14.99 per month or $139 per year, while Prime Video is available as a standalone for $8.99 per month. Amazon will offer free Prime trials, so be sure to check out their website for available deals. Once you have a valid subscription, you can live stream the game on the Prime Video website or using the Prime Video app.