Houston Rising: Take Astros To Top Mariners Again
The Houston Astros try to stay hot with a third straight win when they play host to the Seattle Mariners for the second of a three-game series on Saturday night. Houston took the opener against its AL West rival as it tries to move up in the division standings.
The Astros come into Saturday’s action tied for fourth with the Los Angeles Angels, with both sitting 3½ games behind the third-place Oakland Athletics.
Seattle has lost two straight but is still hanging onto the top spot in the standings, leading the Texas Rangers by a half-game. This is one of the better games on Saturday’s schedule for your MLB betting, so let’s take a closer look at the contest.
Mariners vs Astros Game Information
- Game: Mariners (17-15) vs Astros (12-20)
- Date/Time: Saturday, May 4, 7:15 p.m. ET
- Location: Minute Maid Park, Houston, TX
- Mariners vs Astros Live Stream: MLB.tv
Friday was the first of 13 games that the Astros and Mariners will play against each other, with the next series coming later this month in Seattle. The Mariners took the season series between these clubs in 2023, winning nine of the 14 matchups, including 6-1 in games played in Houston.
Houston has the edge in the MLB odds set for Saturday’s game, as it is listed at -134 on the moneyline. Seattle is getting +124 odds for an outright victory.
If you want to be on the run line, you can get the Mariners at -175 when getting 1½ runs, while the Astros are +155 when giving those runs. The over/under for the contest has been set at 7½ runs, with -120 odds on the under and Ev on the over.
Mariners vs Astros Moneyline Odds and Run Line
Mariners vs Astros Betting Trends
- Seattle is 1-4 straight-up in its last five games played in May.
- Houston is 7-13 straight-up in its last 20 games played at home.
- The total has gone under in nine of the Mariners’ last 10 games.
- The total has gone over in four of the Astros’ last five games against an AL West opponent.
- Houston is 7-10 ATS when playing at home this season.
Little Things Hurting Mariners
One game after two Mariners errors led to four unearned runs in a 5-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves, Seattle made a few mental miscues that cost it in the 5-3 setback to the Astros. Trailing by two in the top of the eighth, the Mariners had runners on second and third with no outs but failed to score, as base-running errors led to a rundown for the third out.
“We didn’t play good baseball,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said after the loss. “Free bases, base running miscues, you can’t do that on the road against a good team”.
The Seattle bullpen didn’t help things either, taking a 3-1 lead into the bottom of the seventh but giving up four runs in the frame. It was a rough night for the entire team, with the biggest highlight being a two-run home run by shortstop Dylan Moore.
Outfielder Mitch Haniger is hoping to break out of a slump that has seen him go 2-for-27 over the last eight games. Haniger is batting.211, though he leads Seattle with 18 RBI.
The Mariners are trying to stay ahead of the Rangers for the top spot in the division, and are still in first place only because Texas also lost on Friday night.
Seattle will try to turn things around, sending right-hander Logan Gilbert to the mound for his seventh start. Gilbert is 2-0 with a 2.03 ERA, which ranks 10th in the majors. He also is tied for 11th in MLB in strikeouts with 44 in 40 innings of work.
The 26-year-old is coming off a no-decision against the Arizona Diamondbacks last Sunday, going 6⅓ innings and allowing two runs on four hits, including a home run. He struck out nine and walked one.
Astros Trying To Start Climb
Houston was among the top teams in MLB playoff odds at the beginning of the season, but it has struggled to start the 2024 campaign. The Astros are starting to get healthy, especially in the starting rotation, and they’re hoping to keep their move up the standings going with a couple more wins in this series.
Lefty Framber Valdez will try to keep the roll going when he makes his fourth start. Valdez had been out for nearly four weeks with elbow inflammation before returning last weekend when the Astros played the Colorado Rockies in Mexico. He got the win, going five innings and allowing two runs on five hits while striking out six and walking none.
On the season, the 30-year-old is 1-0 with a 2.60 ERA, having struck out 16 in 17⅓ innings.
As usual, leadoff man Jose Altuve will set the tone for the Houston offense. Altuve drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh in the opener with a bunt single.
Altuve bunts for the lead! pic.twitter.com/HqEfE8295Y
— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) May 4, 2024
The veteran also stole his 300th career base, putting him in some select company. Altuve joined Derek Jeter, Paul Molitor, Willie Mays, and Roberto Alomar as the only players in MLB history to have at least 300 steals, 2,000 hits, 400 doubles, 200 homers and a career batting average of .300 or higher.
“It’s always good to get milestones like that, but I think that we are in the wrong time to think about stats because we’re trying to win games and cover some ground we lost in the beginning,” Altuve said of the achievement. “But yeah I’m very happy and thankful for this kind of stuff.”
Astros Continue Surge With Win
Seattle has been inconsistent of late, and that will likely continue on Saturday night. The Mariners need to have more of a scoring attack, but facing Valdez isn’t a good way to do that.
Houston is playing with a lot of confidence, which will translate into an outright win on Saturday. When making your MLB picks for this one, take the Astros on the moneyline in a low-scoring affair.
Questions of the Day
Who won the season series between the Mariners and Astros last season?
Seattle won the season series with Houston in 2023, winning nine of the 14 games the teams played.
