Two of the perennial powerhouses in the American League will square off for the second game of a three-game series on Tuesday when the New York Yankees (5-5) travel to Minute Maid Park to take on the Houston Astros (6-5). In game one, the Astros won a back and forth battle 4-3. In the game for the Yankees, Aaron Judge showed off his power with a home run as he went 2 for 3 with 2 walks. Masahiro Tanaka pitched well, going 6 innings of 3-hit ball and only allowing one run, but relievers Zach Britton and Adam Ottavino gave up a combined 3 runs in 2 innings, leading to the loss. For the Astros, Jose Altuve went 1 for 4 with a home run, and Carlos Correa hit the game-winning hit, a 30-foot dribbler that the Yankees were unable to get an out on. The two will square off again Tuesday as the Yankees will send Jonathan Loaisiga (0-0, 2.25 ERA) to the mound to square off with the Astros’ Gerrit Cole (0-2, 3.00 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 8:10 pm ET.
The moneyline for Tuesday’s game is set at the New York Yankees +155 and the Houston Astros -175. The over/under on runs scored is set at 8.
Yankees Looking To Prosper Despite Injuries
To say that the Yankees have been fighting the injury bug would be an understatement. Giancarlo Stanton, Miguel Andujar, and Luis Severino are just a few of the players out of action for the Yanks. To make matters worse, it appears Severino may be out even longer as he is going have an MRI on his shoulder. Still, they still have weapons on the offensive side and despite their struggles Monday, their bullpen is dominant. On the pitching side, they have been relying on some youngsters, one of whom is Jonathan Loaisiga. In his first contest, Loaisiga went 4 innings, allowing 1 hit, 1 earned run, 3 walks and had 4 strikeouts in a 2-1 loss to the Detroit Tigers. With a solid bullpen, the Yankees will hope that they can get about 5 innings out of him.
On the offensive side, Aaron Judge has been really solid to start the season. In 38 at-bats, Judge is hitting .289/.426/.553 with 3 home runs, 7 runs batted in, 6 runs, and 9 walks. Still, he has shown the knack for strikeouts as he already has 16 on the season. The Yankees definitely have displayed power this season, though, as in addition to Judge, Clint Frazier (3), Gleyber Torres (3), Luke Voit (2) and Gary Sanchez (6) have all put up multiple home runs this season. Still, with the likes of Andujar, Stanton, Tulowitzki, Gregorious, and others injured, they aren’t quite as deep as they were projected to be.
Astros Trying To Keep Rolling
After starting the season 2-5, the Astros have now strung together 4 in a row and will look to keep it going on Tuesday. To try to keep their winning ways going, they will look to Gerrit Cole on the mound. Cole has not had the best luck thus far as his offensive support has left something to be desired. In his last start, he had a quality start, going 6 innings, allowing 3 earned runs on 4 hits and 3 walks while also striking out 9, but the Astros did not score at all in that one. In the outing before that, he went 6 innings, allowing 1 earned run (4 runs total) on 5 hits while striking out 10, but the Astros only scored 2. Hoping to put together his third quality start in a row, he will be looking for the offense to get his back this time around.
On the offensive side, there have definitely been signs of life as of late. On the season, Alex Bregman is leading the way hitting .351/.444/.486 with a home run, 2 doubles, 3 runs batted in and 5 runs scored. From a power standpoint, Altuve has 2 home runs, Springer has 3 and newcomer Michael Brantley has 2. While the Astros may not have the big boppers like the New York Yankees, they do have a balanced of consistency of contact and some power that can make almost anyone in the lineup dangerous.
Yankees And The Moneyline
This one is less about a gut feeling and more about taking the better odds. The Astros have been playing better, but they are still not dominating, and neither Gerrit Cole nor Justin Verlander have looked like the Cy Young contenders of yesteryear. While I don’t hate them in this matchup, it would not surprise me if the Yankees are able to put up some runs. I also expect their bullpen, which has generally been dominant, to not have too many repeat performances of their struggles Monday night. I wouldn’t blame you if you took the Astros in this one, but I like the Yankees at +155 better than the Astros at -175. For my money, I am going to take the gamble with the underdogs.