Struggling Pitchers Take The Mound

Rays vs. Astros, 8:10 ET

Could we be in for a preview of the American League Championship Series? The game tonight brings two teams that are in second place within their divisions to face each other. The Rays, a team that started the year stronger than anyone, face the Astros, the defending World Series champions. This is a juicy matchup with two very strong, but struggling pitchers taking the mound.

The Rays have not been playing good baseball this month. I wrote yesterday about the number of wins the White Sox had in the month of July. That number is five. Well, guess how many the Rays have in July. That's right, five. Five wins in 20-something days is very bad. Like, Oakland Athletics/Pittsburgh Pirates bad. Somehow this team that looked like an absolute juggernaut for the first part of the year now looks very vulnerable. Perhaps they are just experiencing both extremes in their season and it will balance out. I tend to think they are a better team than what is happening right now, but something needs to give for them. Tonight's matchup isn't an easy one for them as they take on one of the hottest teams in baseball in the Houston Astros. Luckily for them, they get Shane McClanahan, their Ace and a potential Cy Young candidate. McClanahan has not been quite as good lately, he allowed five earned runs over four innings. The Astros have hit McClanahan well over the times they've seen him.

The Rays are taking on the Astros in Houston. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports

The Astros started the season looking like they had a bit of a World Series hangover. There aren't too many teams out there that would start the year average after about a month and a half and give you reason for encouragement, but the Astros were one that I'd say I never really worried about. The Astros have to be favored to win the division at this point. They are just two games back of the Rangers after taking two of three from the division rival. Their pitching has been solid and their hitting has been pretty close to league average. They are likely to add something at the deadline if they can. Tonight, they have Cristian Javier taking the ball. This season, Javier has a 4.32 ERA with a 7-2 win-loss record. He has almost a 3-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio and has been pretty good about keeping people off bases. He doesn't go deep into many games not completing six innings since the middle of June. Lately, he also seems to be struggling as he has allowed 23 earned runs over 21.1 innings. Rays hitters are just 3-for-19 against him though.

The pitchers in this game are both capable of spinning gems, but I think this is one where the game goes over. The Astros hitters track record against McClanahan, and his recent struggles, make me think they will win the game. Javier has been hittable and allows runs so I think we should get over 8.5 here, and it does give me a bit of pause betting against McClanahan. I'll just play the over.

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