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The New York Yankees and Houston Astros square off on Thursday with first pitch set for 6:10 p.m. ET. The game takes place at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas and will only be available on local TV or through an MLB.tv subscription. Luis Severino will take the mound for the Yankees, while Luis Garcia will toss for the Astros.
The Yankees (56-20) are likely coming into Thursday’s matchup feeling confident despite their split series against the ‘Stros last week in the Bronx. They sit with a comfortable 13-game lead over the Red Sox in the AL East and are on a four-game win streak that started with a win to close out the series with Houston. Aaron Judge continues to be the star of the show, leading the team with a .290 batting average and the MLB with 29 home runs. His 59 RBI and 1.001 OPS each rank fourth in the league. On the mound, Luis Servino (4-2) has been solid enough in his 13 starts this season, with a 3.38 ERA and 10.9 K/9.
Houston (47-27) will look to bounce back from an ugly loss to close out last week’s series against the Yanks. After five Astros pitchers combined for a no-hitter in Wednesday’s outing for an 8-0 win, Judge knocked out a three-run home run in the 10th inning for a walk-off victory to end their split series on a high note. Unfortunately, Houston is dealing with several injuries that could give the team a lot to overcome against a hot Yankees lineup. Michael Brantley is on the 10-day injured list, while Yordan Álvarez and Jeremy Peña are each day-to-day following a scary collision in the outfield Wednesday against the Angels.
Yankees vs. Astros
Pitchers: Luis Severino vs. Luis Garcia
First pitch: 6:10 p.m. ET
Yankees local broadcast: YES
Astros local broadcast: ATT SportsNet-SW
Live stream: MLB.tv (subscription)
Odds, picks & predictions
Run Line: Yankees -1.5 (+145), Astros +1.5 (-170)
Run total: O7.5 (-115), U7.5 (-105)
Moneyline odds: Yankees -125, Astros +105
Moneyline pick: Yankees -125
Though the Astros are at home, it still feels surprising that the Yankees aren’t getting lower odds to win this one. Given the injuries the Astros are managing and the Yankees continued hot streak, we’ll take them to nab a win on the road. The Yanks lead the MLB with a .737 win percentage, including a 22-11 away record, and get to face Garcia, who has the second-highest ERA among Astros pitchers (3.68) with at least 50 innings pitched this season.
Player prop pick: Yuli Gurriel over 0.5 singles (+105)
Gurriel hasn’t been a superstar this season, but has been on a bit of a hot streak lately that he’ll look to continue on Thursday night. In the last seven days, Gurriel has notched eight hits in 22 at-bats, hitting .364 with a 1.000 OPS. He’s on a six-game hit streak, including runs in each of his last three, and the matchup with Severino only helps his cause. In 15 plate appearances vs. Severino, Gurriel has six hits, including two doubles.
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