Rays vs. Astros Prediction and Odds for Saturday, October 1 (Fade Pitching as McClanahan Continues to Struggle)

The Tampa Bay Rays are locked into one of the Wild Card spots in the American League, and the Houston Astros have had the AL West crown for a while now. With both teams playoff bound and the Astros with the best record in the American League, all that is to be decided in this one is seeding and our bets. 

It’s a fantastic pitching matchup with Shane McClanahan on the mound for Tampa and Cristian Javier starting for Houston. 

Rays vs. Astros Odds, Run Line and Total

Rays vs. Astros Prediction and Pick

These are two great pitchers headed in opposite directions at the moment. Javier has not given up a run in three straight starts and McClanahan has gotten shelled for nine runs across his last two outings. 

Javier still isn't getting a lot of depth in his starts, he hasn’t gone longer than six innings since July 1, but he also has only given up more than one earned run in twice since August 7. If you are Houston you certainly will take six solid innings, but the bizarre thing is that Javier is only 10-9 and the Astros are only 14-10 in his starts this season. He has a 2.65 ERA and a 3.22 fielding independent pitching and yet as recently as August 26, he was relegated to the bullpen. 

McClanahan is not nearly as dominant as he was in the first half of the year. In the months of August and September, he has a 4.53 ERA and has only 38 strikeouts in 43.2 innings. 

All of this makes me love the over even with Javier pitching so well and McClanahan’s reputation as one of the best pitchers in the game. 

Pick: Over 6.5 (-115)

Follow all Josh Yourish’s bets HERE