26th Aug - Yankees vs Astros

Houston’s Colin McHugh has been pitching well, but hasn’t gotten much offensive support in recent starts. He has a 1.67 ERA in his last four games, but has only been rewarded with a 1-2 record. One night after the Astros exploded by scoring 15 runs, McHugh will be hoping to catch some of that benefit.

Pitching wins a lot of games in MLB play, and Houston’s staff has been giving their line-up the best possible chance of winning. They’ve allowed two runs or fewer in 17 of their last 19 starts and the starters have posted consecutive shut outs with Scott Feldman and Dallas Kuechel combining to post 15 scoreless innings in the previous two contests against the Yankees.

New York’s grip on the AL East has now been officially relinquished. They fell one game behind after losing to Houston, while the red hot Toronto Blue Jays picked up another win in Texas. Some of that frustration was apparent on Tuesday night when Yankees’ players reacted to Carlos Gomez in a bench clearing incident.

Tonight’s game marks a return to action for Michael Pineda. He’s been on the D/L with an elbow strain since suffering a loss to the Minnesota Twins on July 24. He returns to the rotation just as the team’s ace, CC Sabathia, appears to have picked up an injury.

The Yankees have the second most runs in the American League, but they’ve been struggling of late scoring just 16 runs in their last six games, four of which were losses. They’ll likely need to help the returning Pineda with some run support, but catching form against McHugh won’t be easy.

Three Reasons Why Houston Astros Win

1. Pineda’s return and inconsistency

It’s been a difficult and inconsistent season for Pineda so far and coming off an elbow strain isn’t likely to improve his form. Houston’s line-up is very capable of getting momentum and Pineda could be in for a tough night after they got hot against Nova last night.

2. Colin McHugh will get some reward

McHugh has been pitching well without reward. We’re willing to bet on some of that fortune switching around in tonight’s game, he’ll get a win somehow, even if he ends up needing some run support.

3. Runs will be scored

We’re not expecting this to be another 1-0 game. Pineda will give up some runs and after a couple of poor nights, New York’s hitters are due to make a bit more contact and to drive at least two or three runs in during tonight’s game.

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