MLB Betting Picks June 21 – Houston Astros at New York Yankees

A pair of division leaders heading in opposite directions square off in the second game of a four-game set on Friday. The New York Yankees struck first, tagging the Houston Astros, 10-6, Thursday in the opener for their sixth consecutive victory.

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New York extended its lead in the AL East to season-high 4.5 games while handing the Astros their fifth loss in a row. Brad Peacock looks to end Houston’s longest losing streak of the season. He’ll be opposed by lefty James Paxton. Bet the game at BookMaker.eu and watch it on MLB Network.

Houston Astros at New York Yankees

Date and Time: Friday, June 21, 2019, 7:05 p.m. ET

Location: Yankee Stadium, New York, NY

Probable Pitchers: Brad Peacock vs. James Paxton

Opening MLB Odds: New York -135, Houston +115, O/U 9.5

Astros at Yankees TV Coverage: MLB Network

Odds Analysis

The Astros haven’t lost this many games consecutively since 2016. And it’s not like they played some World Series contenders during the stretch. Okay, the Yankees improved their stock, but a 12-0 loss to Toronto to start the skid followed by a three-game sweep in Cincinnati is alarming. They built a cushion in the division and are still 20 games over .500. And the Stros are getting reinforcements. Jose Altuve returned to the lineup while George Springer and Carlos Correa aren’t far away.

A 10-game homestand with series against Tampa Bay and Houston is going to tell us something about this Yankees club. So far it’s saying they could be the team to beat in the AL. Creating separation in the division, the Yanks pummeled Tampa 12-1 on Wednesday for the sweep and dropped 10 on Houston in the series opener, the fourth time in the last 10 games they scored 10 or more runs. Over New York’s last 12 games the over is 9-3.

Probable Pitchers

Brad Peacock ( 6-4, 3.67 ERA ) needs to throw better than he has in his last two outings if the Astros want to end their slide. He was on the bump when the losing started giving up two homers among five hits and four earned over 5.0 innings against Toronto. Peacock has allowed four runs in each of his past two starts surrendering 12 hits and four home runs in 11.1 frames.

During a four-game stretch last month, Peacock yielded just one run over 23 innings while fanning 32 batters. He is 4-2 with a 2.58 ERA in his past eight starts, allowing 33 hits and striking out 50 in 45.1 innings. He has had success and this could be just a bump in the road.

Picking up his first win since returning from the IL, James Paxton ( 4-3, 3.93 ERA ) went 6.0 innings throwing 108 pitches to beat the ChiSox. He gave up eight hits, but was otherwise sharp as he appears to be getting his edge back.

Paxton will also attempt to make up for one of his worst outings of the season. On April 10 he surrendered a pair of homers to Altuve and was rocked for eight hits and five runs across 4.0 innings in an eventual 8-6 loss to the Astros. Despite that rough outing, Paxton has decent career numbers against Houston. In 13 starts he’s 7-4 with a 3.33 ERA over 75.2 innings.

Key Stat

The addition of AL home run leader Edwin Encarnacion and the return of Giancarlo Stanton gives even more pop to team that already has plenty of it. Encarnacion hit his 23rd of the season on Thursday and Gary Sanchez belted his 22nd for half of the team’s total. The Yankees have hit 121 homers on the year and they’ve connected at least once in 23 straight games. That’s not a good sign for Peacock, who’s suddenly tossing gopher balls. He’s given up two in each of his last two starts, which is nearly as many as he allowed in his first 13 outings.

Bet Astros at Yankees at BookMaker.eu

These teams could easily meet in the postseason and it’s never too early to send a message. The Yankees are playing good baseball and shackles have been removed from Paxton since his IL stay. He got greased up last outing with his longest stint since April. And it looks as though Peacock has hit a wall after a brilliant start. It’s hard to go against the Bombers in this one so I’m not. Look for more long balls from the Yanks as they continue their recent roll.

MLB Score Prediction: Yankees 6, Astros 4

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This article courtesy of Bookmaker and Phil Simon