MLB Betting: Pittsburgh Pirates at Houston Astros

Added on Jul 27, 2012 by Jack Thurman in

MLB

The Pittsburgh Pirates are one of the surprise teams of the 2012 MLB season and have a very good shot at making the playoffs. A preferable outcome, however, would be winning the NL Central and for that the Bucs are locked in a pitched battle with the Cincinnati Reds. Entering Friday’s action, Pittsburgh is 2 games behind Cincinnati but the Pirates catch a scheduling break with three games against the struggling Houston Astros.

Pittsburgh Pirates at Houston Astros
July 27, 2012 5:05 PM Pacific

Last season the Pittsburgh Pirates started the season in very good form but went into the tank after the All Star Break, eventually finishing with a losing record and well short of the playoffs. That scenario doesn’t look to be playing out again as the Pirates have continued winning games and keeping pace with the ‘red hot’ Cincinnati Reds in the NL Central. Pittsburgh as a very good 14-7 record in the month of July and should be able to pad that some more as they head to Texas to take on the slumping Houston Astros.

The Astros are nothing short of a disaster area. Earlier in the campaign they were a competent team at home–YTD they’re still ‘in the black’ at home by a couple of units–but have been awful away from home all season. Now the bottom has fallen out–Houston has lost 10 straight games and 20 of their last 22 contests. There’s not really a good situation in which to bet the Astros at this point, but worth noting that they’ve been especially bad against right handed pitching–against RHP the Astros are 23-51 -22.1 units.

Jeff Karstens gets the start for Pittsburgh and while his YTD stats may not be overly impressive he’s been in very good form in his recent assignments. Karstens has allowed only 4 earned runs in his last three starts (with those coming at hitter friendly Coors Field) for a tidy 1.64 ERA. The Astros will counter with Jordan Lyles who–like the entire Houston team–has gone from mediocre to horrible in the span of the past month. Lyles has been hit hard in his last three starts posting a 5.78 ERA in three Houston losses.

The market has been slow to accept the reality that the Pirates are now a solid playoff contender. Even at a relatively high price they’re worth a play against the flatlining Astros.

Bet Pittsburgh Pirates (Karstens) -155 over Houston Astros (Lyles)