Astros vs. Rockies prediction and odds for Wednesday, July 19

Last night, Kris Bryant and Ryan McMahon both homered off Hunter Brown and the Colorado Rockies took Game 1 of this three-game interleague series with the Houston Astros.

Houston is 4.5 games behind the Rangers in the AL West at 52-43 and needs to avoid a series loss to the 37-58 Rockies. 

For Game 2, Brandon Bielak will take the mound against Austin Gomber. Bielak is 4-5 with a 3.79 ERA in 10 starts for Houston and Gomber is 8-7 with a 6.19 ERA in his 19 starts for Colorado. 

Houston is favored on the road and it'll need its offense to do some damage against a lefty without Yordan Alvarez in the lineup. Let’s take a look at the odds. 

Astros vs. Rockies odds, run line and total

Astros vs. Rockies prediction and pick

Yordan Alvarez isn’t just the best hitter in the Houston lineup, he's also the team's best hitter against lefties, which is rare for a lefty.

Yet, for the season the Astros are 10th in OPS against lefties at .763 and 14th in home runs with 14, but since Alavarez went out on June 8, they are fifth in OPS at .788, third in wRC+ at 121, and their 11 home runs rank 13th. Part of that time has been without Jose Altuve as well. 

Right when it seems like it would be the biggest struggle for the Astros to beat lefties, they are hitting better. Kyle Tucker has continued to be great for them in July and he’s a big reason why, but also Chas McCormick who has a 1.345 OPS this month and has a 1.014 OPS against lefties this season. 

Austin Gomber has been pitching a bit better lately, but two of his last three starts have been against the Yankees and Tigers who are poor hitting teams. Once he gets knocked out the bullpen will be taxed from a bullpen game yesterday. I love Houston to score a lot of runs, but I’m not so sure I can trust it. 

Brandon Bielak has allowed 10 home runs in his 10 starts and has 23 walks to 46 strikeouts in 59.1 innings. He’s already started to struggle some and if a guy isn’t missing bats, then a trip to Colorado is the last thing he needs.

Houston’s bullpen also ranks 22nd in ERA since June 1. I’ll take the over after a low-scoring game by Coors Field standards yesterday. 

Follow all Josh Yourish’s bets HERE

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change