Houston Astros vs New York Yankees Prediction 9-3-23 MLB Picks

The New York Yankees and the Houston Astros meet in the finale of their three-game set from Minute Maid Park on Sunday. Can the Yankees complete the sweep? Or will Houston salvage something from the rubble? Let’s dive in and find out.

Yankees Snag Back-To-Back Wins Vs. ‘Stros

The New York Yankees came into this series with Houston with their playoff hopes on life support but the Yankees have shown signs of life after a pair of wins thanks to a 5-4 win over Houston on Saturday. The win propelled the Yankees to 67-69 on the year, sitting 8.5 games back in the AL Wild Card race and 17.5 games off the pace in the AL East race, sitting in the basement of the division. Gleyber Torres leads the Yankees with 136 hits and a .270 batting average along with a .339 OBP and Aaron Judge has a team-high 31 home runs and 58 RBIs so far this season. Torres also has a team-high 22 doubles while Anthony Volpe leads New York with 4 triples. Michael King will start for the Yankees here and is 3-5 with a 2.96 ERA and 87 strikeout this season.

New York Yankees Team Facts

- The Yankees have won each of their last seven night games after playing the previous day.

- The Yankees have covered the run line in each of their last nine games as underdogs against the Astros following a road win.

- The Yankees have led after 5 innings in each of their last seven night games.

- The 'Inning 1 OVER 0.5 runs' market has hit in each of the Yankees' last eight Sunday games against American League opponents.

- The Yankees have led after 3 innings in four of their last six games as road underdogs against AL West opponents.

Astros Looking For Answers

The Houston Astros have had no answers for New York in the first two games of this series, with Saturday’s loss dropping the Astros to 77-60 on the year, holding onto the second Wild Card spot in the AL while also sitting 1 game back in the AL West race. Kyle Tucker leads the Astros across the board, hitting .291 with 142 hits, 26 home runs and 98 RBIs with 31 doubles while Alex Bregman has 22 homers with 90 RBIs and Yordan Alvarez has added 23 homers and 77 RBIs. Tucker also has a team-high 26 stolen bases this season. Cristian Javier will start for the Astros here and is 9-2 with a 4.66 ERA and 119 strikeouts this season.

Houston Astros Team Facts

- The underdogs have won seven of the last eight games between the Yankees and Astros.

- The road team has covered the run line in each of the Astros' last seven games.

- The Astros have trailed after 3 innings in each of their last three games as home favorites against American League opponents.

- The Astros have trailed after 7 innings in each of their last five games at Minute Maid Park against AL East opponents that held a losing record.

- The Astros have trailed after 5 innings in seven of their last nine games as home favorites against American League opponents.

Matchup/League Facts

- The Houston Astros ranks 4th in the league for strikeouts against this season (1063).

- The Houston Astros are one of only 4 teams in the league to rank top 10 in both strikeouts and on-base percentage this season.

- The New York Yankees ranks 30th in the league for doubles this season (172).

- The New York Yankees ranks 29th in the league for hits this season (1014).

Chris’ Pick

I’m looking at the Yankees here. Never thought I’d catch myself saying that but King hasn’t been terrible and the Yankees have easily been the better team in this series. I’m also running out of excuses for Cristian Javier, who has a decent record with a bloated ERA and there’s only so many times that his offense can bail him out. I’ll take a stab on the Yankees here.