Houston Astros (98-68) vs Boston Red Sox (96-71)
Game Info: Saturday, October 16, 2021 at 4:20 pm (Minute Maid Park)
Luis Garcia (11-8) (3.47) vs Nathan Eovaldi (12-9) (3.64)
Betting Odds: Houston Astros -141 / Boston Red Sox +114 --- Over/Under: 8.5 Click Here for the Latest Odds
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The Boston Red Sox and Houston Astros meet Saturday in Game 2 of the ALCS in MLB action at Minute Maid Park. The Red Sox need a win to even up the series at 1-1. The Astros look for another win to take a 2-0 series lead.
The Boston Red Sox have scored 16 runs in their last three games and four or more runs in five of their last six games. The Red Sox have won four of their last five games when scoring four or more runs. Enrique Hernandez leads the Red Sox with 14 hits and eight RBI while Alex Verdugo and Rafael Devers have combined for 17 hits and 12 RBI. Nathan Eovaldi gets the ball, and he was 11-9 with a 3.75 ERA and 195 strikeouts this season. Eovaldi is 3-1 with a 1.93 ERA and 32 strikeouts in his postseason career.
The Houston Astros have scored 21 runs in their last three games and four or more runs in eight straight games. The Astros have won seven of their last nine games when scoring four or more runs. Michael Brantley leads the Astros with eight hits and four RBI while Carlos Correa and Alex Bregman have combined for 15 hits and nine RBI. Luis Garcia gets the ball, and he is 11-8 with a 3.30 ERA and 167 strikeouts this season. Garcia is 0-0 with a 9.64 ERA and four strikeouts in his postseason career.
The Red Sox are 5-1 in their last 6 Saturday games and 16-5 in their last 21 playoff games. The Astros are 1-4 in their last 5 Saturday games and 6-2 in their last 8 playoff games. The over is 5-1 in Red Sox last 6 overall. The over is 6-1 in Astros last 7 overall. The Red Sox are 2-5 in the last 7 meetings in Houston and 2-5 in the last 7 meetings.
Eovaldi has been solid through two postseason games already, but he's going up against an Astros lineup that's hitting .370 against him with four homers in 67 at bats. Garcia got rocked in his first postseason appearance this season against the White Sox, and he's allowed 13 hits and 11 runs in his last 7.2 innings overall. You throw in this hitters friendly park and the way these lineups have been tearing the cover off the ball, and you have to like your chances with the over.
Give me the over with the reasonable total.
Randy’s Pick Over 8.5
AUTHOR: Randy Chambers
Follow Randy Chambers on Twitter @WizardOf0dds