Houston Astros vs. Seattle Mariners Prediction: Can Luis Castillo, Mariners Edge Astros at Home?
The Seattle Mariners will battle the Houston Astros on Friday night. Can Luis Castillo carry the Mariners to an AL West victory at home over the 'Stros? Ben Rajavuori thinks so, and is targeting Seattle with his best bet in his Astros vs. Mariners prediction.
Ben Rajavuori - July 19, 2024, 5:37 PM EDT
5 minHouston Astros vs. Seattle Mariners Prediction: Can Luis Castillo, Mariners Edge Astros at Home?
One of my favorite matchups tonight is also one of my favorite bets of the night on this baseball slate for the first day back from the All-Star break. This matchup is between AL West foes, as the Seattle Mariners will host the Houston Astros tonight to kickoff a three-game weekend series.
Astros vs. Mariners DATE, TIME, AND WHERE TO WATCH
- Date: July 19, 2024
- Start Time: 10:10 p.m. ET
- Where to Watch: MLB Extra Innings
Houston Astros vs. Seattle Mariners Prediction
The Seattle Mariners ended the first half in first place in the division, sporting a record of 52–46 even after a three-game losing streak. Hot on their trails are the Houston Astros, who have completely flipped the script and entered the All-Star break surging to second place at 50–46. The Astros went 17–8 in June after starting 10–15 in April. They followed that up with an 8–5 record in July heading into the All-Star break to battle back above .500 and are now right on the heels of the Mariners. The Astros will send out Hunter Brown for their first game back from the break. Brown had a slow start to the season, sporting an 11.84 ERA in April. However, he turned it around and got very hot in June when he had a 1.16 ERA across five starts that month. Aside from a rough start in Minnesota a few weeks ago, Brown has recorded nine quality starts in his last 10 appearances. Brown has also already had two starts against the Mariners this season, with the Astros losing both. In the first, Brown was knocked out early in the game after allowing two runs in 4.1 innings and getting to 91 pitches quickly. In the second, he gave up just one earned run in six innings and struck out nine, but the Astros still lost 4–2. This will now be his third start of the year against the Mariners.
On the other side, Luis Castillo will get the start on the bump for the Mariners. Castillo has been excellent this season, pitching to the tune of a 3.5 ERA with 116 strikeouts in 117.1 innings. His 1.17 whip is also the 30th lowest in the majors this year.
The Mariner's pitching rotation has really been the strength of this team, as their starting pitching has the third-lowest average ERA in baseball this year. The Mariner's offense has been very stagnant and inconsistent this year, but the starting pitching behind Luis Castillo, Bryan Woo, George Kirby, Logan Gilbert, and Bryce Miller has not only kept them in the playoff race but has helped them stay in first place this long.
Aside from struggling against Yordan Alvarez, Luis Castillo has pitched very well against this Astros team. This is a lineup that is also still missing Kyle Tucker, which is a big missed bat against a picture like Castillo. On the other hand, the Mariners are averaging a .305 batting average against Hunter Brown and will be seeing him for the third time in two months tonight. While the Astros were the much hotter team going into the All-Star break, I like this pitching matchup for the Mariners and think that they will get out to an early lead and keep this a low-scoring game which will inevitably give them their first win post-All-Star break tonight.
Houston Astros vs. Seattle Mariners Prediction
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Houston Astros vs. Seattle Mariners System Projections - July 19th
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