Astros vs Indians Betting Predictions | Comprehensive 2021 MLB Season Picks
The Indians will be hosting the Houston Astros at Progressive Field for a series that will extend into this weekend. Thursday’s Game 1 will see Jean Carlos Mejia and the Cleveland Indians (42-35, 2nd in AL Central) play the Houston Astros (48-33, 1st in AL West). Framber Valdez will be taking the mound for the Astros.
One thing is certain – Astros vs Indians will be one heck of a match!
The Cleveland Indians are coming off of a doubleheader last night to end their series versus the Detroit Tigers. They lost Game 1 after a big performance by Akil Badoo. Cal Quantrill had a rough outing for the Indians as he allowed eight hits and four runs over 3 and ⅓ innings.
Game 2 was another loss to the lesser Tigers, a game in which Cleveland’s pitching staff was hurt early.
The Astros pitchers have disappeared and Houston has lost four straight after the most surprising sweep of this MLB season versus the Baltimore Orioles. They allowed 27 runs over the three games vs the Orioles who have seemed to find their hitting strides behind the work of Cedric Mullins.
In Game 2, Cedric Mullins carried the Orioles to a 13-3 win, and the Orioles completed the sweep yesterday with a 5-2 victory.
The Astros will look to bounce back in a big way after their big winning streak and scoring frenzy has come to a sudden halt.
Prior to them getting swept by the Orioles and dropping two games to the Tigers, the Astros had won ten straight games while scoring an amazing amount of runs in the process.
Key Numbers
The pitching matchup will feature two starters who are on opposite ends of the ERA spectrum. Framber Valdez for the Houston Astros is 4-1 on the season with a 2.11 ERA and WHIP of 0.99.
On the other hand, J.C. Mejia is 1-2 on the year with a 4.94 ERA and a 1.18 WHIP. He put together a good start a week ago against the Minnesota Twins. He only allowed four hits over six innings pitched and surrendered one run.
Framber Valdez also went six innings in his last appearance allowing six hits and 3 earned runs on the way to a 4-1 loss to the Tigers.
At the plate, the Astros have been the best team in baseball. They lead the league in most major team batting categories including total runs scored, runs per game, team batting average and team on base average.
That dominance at the plate and their consistent pitching staff have led them to AL West by 0.5 games over the Oakland Athletics.
For the Cleveland Indians, they find themselves 3.5 games back of the Chicago White Sox in the AL Central prior to the completion of their doubleheader last night.
Great performances from right-handed pitcher Aaron Civale and third baseman Jose Ramirez (5th in AL MVP odds) have kept the Indians in contention for the AL Central. Reigning Cy Young winner Shane Bieber has also posted solid numbers.
They are being held back by their bats this season as they are bottom twelve in batting average, on-base percentage, and runs scored.
Astros vs Indians Betting Prediction
Like many of their games for the past few weeks, the Houston Astros open as heavy betting favorites at -180.
It’s hard to believe that the Houston Astros will continue this losing streak and lack of run scoring. Especially in a matchup versus J.C. Mejia who has not been the strongest starter for the Indians this season.
After only mustering one hit between the stars of Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa in last night’s game, the Astros stars are aligning for a good game tomorrow.
I like the Astros to explode back to their scoring ways in this one, especially with the Indians coming off of two straight losses to the Detroit Tigers. With two teams seeing their records fall, give me the Astros.
Final Picks: Astros -1.5 (-113) and o8.5 runs (-115). Odds Via DraftKings Sportsbook.
