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The Houston Astros and New York Mets square off on Wednesday with first pitch set for 1:10 p.m. EST. The game takes place at Citi Field in New York City and will only be available on local TV or through an MLB.tv subscription. Taijuan Walker will be on the hill for the home team and Justin Verlander will toe the rubber for the Astros.
The Mets remain the best team in the National League like they have all season, however, their supremacy is calming down a little bit, with several teams in other divisions catching up to New York’s 47-win total mark. The Mets have lost half of their last five games and they really have struggled when facing American League competition, going 3-6 so far on the season, including a loss in the series opener against Houston. Walker has been stellar recently though, allowing just five earned runs in his last 18.1 innings pitched.
The Astros sit atop the AL West with 46 wins on the year so far and come into this game having won seven of their last 10 overall matchups. Houston holds a 3-0 season series lead over the Mets and topped them yesterday in a 9-1 win. Verlander has been elite this season, boasting a 9-3 record with an ERA barely over 2.00 on the season in nearly 90 innings pitched.
Astros vs. Mets
Pitchers: Justin Verlander vs. Taijuan Walker
First pitch: 1:10 p.m. EST
Mets local broadcast: SNY
Astros local broadcast: AT&T SportsNet Southwest
Live stream: MLB.tv (subscription)
Odds, picks & predictions
Run Line: Astros -1.5
Run total: 8.5
Moneyline odds: Astros -140, Mets +120
Moneyline pick: Astros -140
The Mets haven’t been playing entirely like themselves recently, losing four of their last six games heading into Wednesday’s action. Verlander has been dominant this season too and New York has really struggled against Houston this year. They’ve lost the three previous contests between the clubs by a combined score of 21-6. The Astros have scored 5 or more runs in each game between them while the most runs New York has scored in any given contest has been 3.
Player prop pick: Justin Verlander under 5.5 strikeouts (-110)
Verlander has been great this season, but he’s not typically getting high strikeout numbers. Over his last 17.2 innings pitched, he’s tallied just 11 strikeouts — plus, New York is not a team that gets sat down on strikes a lot. The Mets rank as the team with the fourth-fewest strikeouts per game, averaging just 7.59 each game.
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