MLB Baseball
2012-07-27 - Pittsburgh Pirates at Houston Astros
A Sports Betting Pick by Auls
United States: Major League Baseball
Friday 27 July 2012 - First Pitch 8:05pm ET
1:05am (British Standard Time)
Preview
Last night, the Pittsburgh Pirates (56-42) took game one of this series thanks to scoring 5 runs early and then surviving a late comeback attempt from the Houston Astros (34-66). Pittsburgh's win means they have closed the gap to 2 games on the Cincinnati Reds in the National League Central.
The Pirates will look to complete another series win over the Astros by sending Jeff Karstens to the mound with his 3-2 record and his 3.52 ERA. The pitcher spent time on the Disabled List and struggled in his first start back last month, but has since compiled a 3-0 record with a 1.86 ERA in four starts.
Karstens has also recorded 5 wins over Houston in his time, the most against any team, and he has allowed just 1 run in his last 4 starts against them (over 30 innings pitched).
The pitcher lasted 8 innings against them earlier this month and didn't give up a run as Pittsburgh won that game 2-0.
Houston have now lost 10 games in a row, their longest losing streak in over 5 years, but they will give the ball to Jordan Lyles and hope he can help snap that run. Lyles is 2-7 with a 5.50 ERA this season, but he has been struggling even more this month.
In fact, the pitcher is coming off his worst performance of the season when he gave up 8 runs in just under 6 innings pitched against the Arizona Diamondbacks and he now has a 0-3 record and a 7.54 ERA in four starts in July.
The saving grace for Houston is Lyles has performed better at home, going 2-1 with a 2.30 ERA in his last four starts here.
Head to Head
Pittsburgh have now improved to 7-1 against Houston in the 2012 season, winning the last 7 in a row against them.
Houston dropped to 4-2 in their last 6 home games against the Pirates since losing 4 in a row to them at home.
Houston are 24-25 at home this season, Pittsburgh are 23-26 on the road.
Prediction
I picked Pittsburgh to win by a couple of runs last night and, barring a couple of loose innings at the end of the game, they were pretty comfortable in doing so.
Once again I like their match up on the mound and I think that will prove the difference between the two teams and also enable the Pirates to win this one by a couple of runs at the least.
Jeff Karstens has dominated Houston in his last few starts against them and that would give Pittsburgh ample opportunity to cover the run line again in this one.
The Pick :
Houston Astros 1-4 Pittsburgh Pirates
