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• Seattle Mariners vs. Houston Astros
• Friday, August 18 at 8:10 PM ET
• Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas
While this may not be known as one of the best rivalries in the American League, it has been made clear in recent years that fans of the Seattle Mariners and Houston Astros don’t like one another. This is always a fun AL West matchup whenever the two sides go to battle, but no one can deny that Houston has had the advantage for the most part against the Pacific Northwest side. With that said, the Astros should take down the Mariners in their series opener on Friday night.
Indeed, the two AL squads will face off at Minute Maid Park this weekend for what should be an entertaining three-game series. The stands in Houston are expected to be packed from start to finish. Historically, the Mariners have not played well in Houston, with the Astros dominating play whenever they face off. We saw that last year in the Divisional Series, as no one has forgotten about that showing.
| Astros vs. Mariners odds |  |  |  |  |
| Astros to win | -115 | -115 | -115 | -115 |
| Mariners to win | +125 | +125 | +125 | +125 |
| Over to hit | -110 | -110 | -110 | -110 |
| Under to hit | -110 | -110 | -110 | -110 |
The Mariners got off to a strong start in Game 1 vs. Houston, but the Astros were able to claw their way back and record a thrilling win thanks to a mammoth walk-off homer from Yordan Alvarez. Alvarez went up to the plate with a ton of confidence and he broke countless hearts in Seattle with his epic dinger. This weekend, more offensive excitement should be on the way from Houston.
According to the best-rated sportsbooks, which includes the reliable Bovada review, the Astros hold -115 MLB betting odds to take down the Mariners. Seattle, playing some of its best baseball of the year right now, will head to Houston with its +125 odds. As good as Seattle has been in recent weeks, Houston has always had their number when facing off. With that said, we’re going with the Astros as our pick.
Remember that one time Yordan Alvarez walked it off against the Mariners in the ALDS! pic.twitter.com/0UFdbUJrDA
— The Texas Baseball Report (@TxBaseballRpt) December 30, 2022
The over should hit between the Mariners and Astros
While the pitching matchup for this meeting hasn’t been announced yet, the over should hit between the Mariners and Astros. These two offenses are electric, with plenty of young talent. For the Astros, people are always going to be talking about Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman and more. Altuve should be considered one of the best hitters of his generation. Don’t let his small size fool you – he’s got elite power.
The Mariners have completely turned things around during the second half of the season, with their bats finally waking up. After taking home AL Rookie of the Year honors last season, Julio Rodriguez entered the 2023 campaign with high expectations. Unfortunately for him, he didn’t live up to things during the first half of the season, with Seattle supporters calling him out for not being clutch.
Cal Raleigh gets ALL of this one.
4⃣5⃣0⃣ feet. pic.twitter.com/ebw8cfiecJ
— Daniel Kramer (@DKramer_) August 10, 2023
However, the second half of the season has been a different story for J-Rod, as he’s making plays with his bat and with his glove from his center field spot. In addition to Rodriguez, people in Seattle have loved the play of Cal Raleigh. Raleigh is famously known for sending Seattle to the postseason thanks to his epic walk-off dinger toward the end of the regular season. This year, he’s been belting even more exciting blasts:
Per the oddsmakers, the over/under has been set at seven runs. Again, we don’t know which starter managers Dusty Baker and Scott Servais will go with, but the talent at the plate for Seattle and Houston will make it tough for whoever takes the bump. With Minute Maid Park expected to be sold out as well, it’s going to provide an extra fun environment. With that said, we’re going with the over as our pick.
The Astros hold the top odds of AL teams to win the World Series
In exciting news for the Houston faithful, the Astros hold the top odds of AL teams to win the World Series. This shouldn’t come as a massive surprise, as the Tampa Bay Rays have seen their level of play drop a bit. Not long ago, the Rays were in first place in the AL East and people were dreaming of them getting to the Fall Classic. Now, though, it’s up in the air if they’ll even win their division.
With the Astros, they’re trying to win the AL West once again, but the Texas Rangers are making life difficult. Despite that, Houston holds +550 World Series betting odds. They’re behind only the Atlanta Braves and Los Angeles Dodgers. Houston won the World Series last year and they’ve got a repeat title on their minds. People are loving this team’s chances after they brought back former Cy Young winner Justin Verlander.
Verlander was acquired before the trade deadline. He already has helped the Astros win a World Series and now he’s ready to do the same once again this fall. Houston is built to win it all, but they’ve got to get healthy late in the regular season. If they do, then the Astros very well could end up going back-to-back.
