Pittsburgh at Houston
Wednesday, June 15th, 8:05 PM
(matchup)
Thanks to a 1-0 win on Tuesday, the Pittsburgh Pirates now have more road wins (18) than they did all of last season and are at .500 this late in the season for the first time in 12 years. They look to keep the good times rolling tonight in Houston against an Astros team that has now lost 9 of its last 11 games.
The Bucs will go with Charlie Morton tonight as a +105 underdog on the
betting line. Pittsburgh has been a good
MLB Pick with Morton on the hill this season (+2 units) thanks in large part to his 2.90 ERA in six road starts. The same cannot be said for Houston’s J.A. Happ, who has a 3-10 team start record. This includes five straight team losses with Happ on the hill. The Pirates are averaging only 3.6 runs per game vs. lefties this year, but are 11-7 in those games.
Pittsburgh’s performance on the road this season has been remarkable. They are just 18-15, but up 10.50 units thanks to the fact they were an underdog in all but two of those games.
Morton has won all four division starts this season, posting a 0.85 ERA in those games. This includes a 6-1 win over Houston back on May 7th. The Astros are a hideous 14-34 vs. right-handed starters this year. Prior to this year, Morton had never beaten the Astros with a 9.00 ERA in four starts.
Houston does have a couple of things going for them tonight. Despite last night’s loss, they are still 15-4 vs. the Pirates here at Minute Maid Park and Pittsburgh is 1-12 since the start of last season following a game where 2 or less total runs were scored.
No MLB has allowed more runs this season than Houston (342). Despite winning three of four, the Pirates have only scored seven runs in that time frame.
