Houston Astros vs Baltimore Orioles Prediction, Preview and Odds - 08/23/2024

Game Time: 7:05 pm ET, Friday, August 23, 2024

Venue:  Oriole Park at Camden Yards, Baltimore, MD

Where to Watch:  MLB Network

DraftKings:  Moneyline odds:  Astros -118, Orioles -102; Over/Under:  9 runs

Bet365:  Moneyline odds:  Astros -120, Orioles +100; Over/Under:  9 runs

BetMGM:  Moneyline odds:  Astros -120, Orioles +100; Over/Under:  9 runs

Houston Astros:  68-58 (1st place, AL West)

Baltimore Orioles:  74-54 (2nd place, AL East)

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Houston Astros:  7-3 last 10

Baltimore Orioles:  4-6 last 10

The Astros are entering this series off a loss and lost their 3-game series against the Boston Red Sox 2-1 in their last series. They enter this game with a 68-58 record overall and have a road record of 33-29. This is the 2nd game of a 4-game series with the Orioles on Friday with the series opener of this series still to be played on Thursday. Their offense ranks 10th in the MLB with a .740 OPS. Rookie pitcher Spencer Arrighetti is their starting pitcher on Thursday while Hunter Brown is making his start in this game on Friday. He is 11-7 with a 3.82 ERA this season. His team won their last 2 straight games this season with him making an appearance. In his last MLB regular season start, he allowed 1 ER, 0 HR, and 2 BB with 6 Ks on 4 hits through 7 IP against the Chicago White Sox.

The Orioles are entering this series off a loss and lost their 3-game series against the New York Mets 2-1 in their last series. They enter this game with a 74-54 record overall and have a home record of 37-28. This is the 2nd game of a 4-game series with the Astros on Friday with the 1st game of this series still to be played on Thursday. Their offense ranks 2nd in the MLB with a .768 OPS. Corbin Burnes is their starting pitcher on Thursday while rookie pitcher Cade Povich is making his start in this game on Friday. He is 1-6 with a 5.77 ERA this season. His team lost their last 4 straight games this season with him making an appearance. In his last MLB regular season start, he allowed 2 earned runs, 0 homers, and 0 BB with 6 strikeouts on 6 hits through 6.1 innings played against the Boston Red Sox.

The current betting odds have the Astros listed as a slight favorite in this game according to Draftkings Sportsbook. The Orioles have looked great in their games this season with their 74-54 record overall which has them in 2nd place of the AL East with one of the best records in the entire MLB. They are trying to stay ahead of the Yankees in the division and they have been a really good home team with their 37-28 home record. Meanwhile, the Astros have also looked good in their games this season with their 68-58 record overall which has them leading the AL West now and pulling away in the division. They haven't looked great in their road games though with their 33-29 road record. The Astros were terrible to start the season so they have come a long way to be in the position they are in now. They have been really hot lately too, going 7-3 in their last 10 games while the Orioles are only 4-6 in their last 10 games. It won't help that the Orioles have rookie Povich going in this one and he hasn't looked great this season. He is 1-6 with a 5.77 ERA and has been giving up a ton of runs in his rookie year. He only gave up 2 earned runs in his last start, but that hasn't been a common theme for him, especially when his team has still lost 4 games in a row with him starting. The Astros are going to have Brown on the mound and he has looked better in his starts this season. He is 11-7 with a 3.82 ERA and his team has had success with him lately. The Astros have won 2 of the last 3 games with Brown starting and he only gave up 1 earned run in his last start. This is a very big game for the playoff race and the Astros have a lot of momentum on their side right now, they can take advantage of the pitching matchup in this one. The best way to place a bet here is on the Astros to win this game. 

Astros Orioles Prediction:  Our MLB Pick for Friday, August 23, 2024 (7:05 pm ET start time) is Astros 6 Orioles 3.

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Houston Astros: 36-18 (+13.65 units) on the moneyline in their last 54 games. 41-28 (+14.85 units) on the runline in their last 69 games. 67-50 to the under in their last 117 games. 

Baltimore Orioles: 25-30 (-16.20 units) on the moneyline in their last 55 games. 2-5 (-3.80 units) on the first 5 moneyline in their last 7 games. 31-23 to the under with their team total in their last 54 games. 

Houston Astros:  K. Ort (SP) Out indefinitely - Personal. J. France (SP) Out indefinitely - Shoulder. R. Pressly (RP) Out indefinitely - Back. L. McCullers Jr. (SP) out of season - Forearm. K. Tucker (RF) Out indefinitely - Shin. K. Graveman (RP) out for season - Shoulder. C. Javier (SP) out of season - Forearm. J. Urquidy (SP) out for season - Forearm. B. Sousa (RP) out for season - Shoulder. O. Ortega (RP) Late July - Elbow. P. Murfee (SP) Mid July - Elbow. L. Garcia (SP) Mid July - Elbow.

Baltimore Orioles:  Z. Eflin (SP) Out indefinitely - Shoulder. K. Akin (RP) Out indefinitely - Personal. J. Webb (SP) Out indefinitely - Elbow. G. Rodriguez (SP) Out indefinitely - Back. J. Westburg (3B) Out indefinitely - Hand. J. Mateo (SS) Out indefinitely - Elbow. D. Coulombe (RP) Late Sep - Elbow. K. Bradish (SP) out for season - Elbow. T. Wells (SP) Out indefinitely - Elbow. J. Means (SP) out for season - Elbow. F. Bautista (RP) out for season - Elbow.

“I felt good. I felt like the stuff was pretty good and as the game went along the location started to hone in and the mechanics felt good. So I was happy about it.” - Justin Verlander after their loss against the Red Sox in their game on Wednesday.

“We didn’t turn a couple double-play balls that hurt, but we got three hits. Tough to win a major league baseball game getting three hits.” - Brandon Hyde after his team’s loss against the Mets in their game on Wednesday.

Alex Bregman (R) DH

Yordan Alvarez (L) LF

Yainer Diaz (R) 1B

Jeremy Peña (R) SS

Victor Caratini (S) C

Jake Meyers (R) CF

Mauricio Dubón (R) 2B

Shay Whitcomb (R) 3B

Chas McCormick (R) RF

Austin Slater (R) LF

Adley Rutschman (S) C

Gunnar Henderson (L) SS

Anthony Santander (S) RF

Ryan Mountcastle (R) 1B

Eloy Jiménez (R) DH

Colton Cowser (L) CF

Ramón Urías (R) 3B

Jackson Holliday (L) 2B

Batting Average:  César Salazar (.318)

Hits:  Jose Altuve (151)

Home Runs:  Yordan Alvarez (25)

RBI:  Yainer Diaz (71)

Stolen Bases:  Jose Altuve (18)

Wins:  Framber Valdez (13)

Saves:  Josh Hader (27)

ERA:  Dylan Coleman (0.00)

Batting Average:  Cristian Pache (1.000)

Hits:  Gunnar Henderson (143)

Home Runs:  Anthony Santander (37)

RBI:  Anthony Santander (82)

Stolen Bases:  Cedric Mullins (23)

Wins:  Grayson Rodriguez (13)

Saves:  Craig Kimbrel (23)

ERA:  Vinny Nittoli (0.00)

Managers:

Houston Astros: Joe Espada (1st season)

Baltimore Orioles: Brandon Hyde (6th season)