Houston Astros vs Baltimore Orioles Prediction & Picks - MLB

Prediction published on 6/23/24, 10:23 AM  by Carlos Zabala in MLB Picks

The Astros won games 1 and 2 against the Orioles, being underdogs in both games. In the 1st game the Orioles were favorites on the betting sites at -160 and in the 2nd at -155, in both games they surprisingly lost by more than 3 runs. After closing the series against the Orioles, the Astros have a schedule that is friendly to direct them to playing 500 baseball. That should be the goal before the All-Star break after having the worst start in years for the franchise.

The Orioles seem to have stopped their great baseball and lost the lead again against the Yankees. Perhaps this is a consequence of the rough schedule that faced them in two exhausting series against the Phillies and the Yankees. In game 2, the Orioles offense was strangely reduced to 4 hits, but with Westburg's 12th HR the Orioles set a new franchise record of 21 games hitting HRs. In 2024 they average 1.6 HR per game. Game 3 will be the exception when the Astros, with Valdez pitching, come out as favorites. However, 3 of the Astros' last 2 losses when Valdez pitched in his last 5 appearances came when the Astros were sportsbook favorites.