With last night’s 7-2 win, the Astros have now won 14 of their last 12 contests. Not only has this hot streak propelled the club back into the playoff hunt, it’s shot them right to the top of the AL West, as the Rangers and the Mariners have fallen below .500.
On Wednesday afternoon, Houston will look to make it 13 of 15 with its ace on the mound.
Can the Astros take another series? Or will the Jays rebound? Let’s preview this matinee clash and make a couple picks on the DraftKings Sportsbook.
Blue Jays vs. Astros prediction, preview
Hunter Brown has been far from perfect since coming off the IL. He’s had a few rough outings and he’s struggled a lot with his control. Still, coming into today’s affair, it looks like the one-time Cy Young hopeful is beginning to get things back on track. In Brown’s past two starts, the right-hander has combined to go 12.2 innings, allowing just two earned runs and eight totals hits. Maybe most importantly, Brown’s only walked two opponents in this span, as well. That’s really been the biggest red flag this season. Across 10 starts and 52.2 innings, Brown’s walk rate is sitting at an astronomical 13.5% — what would easily be the highest mark among starters in MLB if Brown had the volume to qualify. It’s especially odd considering Brown issued a career-low 2.77 free passes per nine in 2025.
Well, I have some good news for Houston’s fans and pitching coaches on Wednesday: The Jays don’t take walks and they don’t score runs. For the season as a whole, Toronto enters play ranking 29th in walk rate (7.3%) and dead-last in OBP (.303). The club also sits dead-last in wOBA (.299) and expected wOBA (.296). It has truly been a disappointing campaign from a franchise that was literally two outs away from a World Series victory last November. The main issue has been Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and he complete lack of power. The 27-year-old is slashing a paltry .259/.338/.349 with just six home runs and a 95 wRC+. In all honesty, it looks like Guerrero’s been fighting through an injury, though John Schneider assured after yesterday’s loss that Vladdy is simply “is just tight, tired.” We’ll see if he’s even in the lineup for the rubber match of this series.
On the mound for the Jays, making his debut with the team, will be Jamison Taillon. The 34-year-old was DFA’d by the Cubs last week, and it’s not exactly a mystery as to why. Across 76.0 innings of work, Taillon’s surrendered a whopping 2.96 opponent home runs per nine with a first percentile opponent barrel rate (15.7%). That’s translated into a 5.92 ERA and a ghastly 6.73 FIP. It’s unclear if the veteran RHP is truly cooked, but as it pertains to today, Taillon’s given up 3.29 long balls per nine to LHBs in 2026, and now he has to face Yordan Alvarez, who is gunning for a Triple Crown. Doesn’t seem like that’s going to end well.
Blue Jays vs. Astros pick, best bet
Best Bet: Astros -1.5 (+109)
Houston’s won 12 of its last 14 games, and it would have covered on the run line in 10 of those victories. We don’t have to make this too complicated. Hunter Brown is going up against the offense that ranks dead-last in wOBA (.299) and expected wOBA (.296), while the Astros will square-off with Jamison Taillon, who was DFA’d last week. Easy peasy.
