11th Oct - Astros vs Royals

The AL divisional series between the Houston Astros and Kansas City Royals heads to Texas all tied up at 1-1. That would seem to benefit the young Wildcard Astros, who have their ace on and Wildcard game winner in Dallas Keuchel on the mound.

Keuchel won 20 games on the season, but he was especially dominant at Minute Maid Park where he went 15-0 with a 1.46 ERA. That’s a pretty intimidating task, even for a very talented Kansas City Royals order, who failed to score in eight innings against Keuchel in Houston in June. They did get to him in the return fixture in Kansas City, but it remains to be seen whether that can spark an upset win.

Expect Minute Maid Park to be especially ramped up on Sunday evening as well. Houston hosts its first MLB postseason game since the 2005 World Series, where they were eventually beaten by the Chicago White Sox.

A lot of the attention will be on Lorenzo Cain and this deep batting order, but just as much pressure will be on Royals’ pitcher Edinson Volquez, who went 13-9 with a 3.55 ERA this year. The veteran pitcher doesn’t have much postseason experience to lean on, he has started just two games with an 0-2 record and 12.15 ERA across those match-ups.

Three Reasons for Betting Tips

1. 15-0

Keuchel’s record at Minute Maid Park speaks for itself. He will relish this opportunity, after all, he is one of the few Astros to experience the franchise’s “dark days”, playing in two of the club’s 100-loss seasons.

2. Astros’ hitting at home

They hit a lot of home runs out of Minute Maid park, this offense is built to win games in this ball park and their performance, more than the rotations, explains the significant disparity between home and away record for Houston.

3. Volquez postseason form

He doesn’t have much to draw upon, he’s going up against one of the MLB’s best and he’s playing in a tough ballpark. We don’t love Volquez in this match-up at all…