Two of the American League's best teams go at it on Sunday Night Baseball.
The pregame narrative: The Houston Astros finish their visit with the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday. Both teams face an enticing pitching matchup and therefore I'm backing one slugger from each team in my picks for the game.
Check out my Astros vs. Orioles picks for Sunday Night Baseball on Aug. 25.
Astros vs. Orioles picks
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Best Bet: Altuve over 0.5 runs scored (-106)
Jose Altuve has scored a run in all three games this series and I'm expecting him to make it four tonight.
In fact, the second baseman has scored nine runs in his last eight games overall and has a successful history against Orioles' starter Dean Kramer. In 11 at-bats, Altuve has seven hits (.636 batting average) with three doubles and a home run. That equals a ridiculous 1.182 SLG
Kramer hasn't been strong overall this season (6-9, 4.30 ERA) and Altuve historically has had his number.
Hitting leadoff is always a benefit when taking these props and Altuve does exactly that. He's gotten on base in eight straight outings which is why he's been scoring so many runs.
Houston's top RBI producers Yanier Diaz (71) and Yordan Alvarez (67) are hitting .333 and .429 respectively against Kramer. Expect Altuve to reach base and give those big bats ample opportunity to send him home.
Key stat: Altuve has scored 74 runs in 125 games played this season.
Quick pick
Mountcastle over 1.5 bases (+118): If Ryan Mountcastle is good to go tonight, I can't miss out on his bases prop.
He's currently nursing a wrist injury so worst case scenario, this bet voids and bettors get their money back.
Mountcastle is hitting 9-for-20 off of Yusei Kikuchi with four home runs. I wouldn't be surprised if the former Toronto Blue Jay has nightmares about this matchup from his stint in the AL East.
Kikuchi has been good in his time with the Astros so far but this Orioles lineup is just too good against him to assume he will be successful tonight.
Anthony Santander, Adley Rutschman and Mountcastle each have four homers off of Kikuchi with the latter leading the charge with a .450 average. I expect him to have a strong night at the plate.
Picks made at 11:40 a.m. ET 08/25/2024.
