Tuesday features an interleague battle of teams off to strong starts as the Houston Astros (28-19, 2nd in the AL West) take on the Milwaukee Brewers (25-22, 1st in the NL Central). The Brewers will host this one at American Family Field, with first pitch scheduled for 7:40 pm ET.
The Astros are the favorites Tuesday despite playing on the road. They are -130 to win, while the Brewers’ moneyline sits at +110. The runline features Milwaukee +1.5 (-156), and the over/under for total runs is 9.5.
Astros Look To Keep Streak Going
After a mediocre start to the season, the Houston Astros appear to be heating up. They have now won eight games in a row, including a big 10-2 victory over Milwaukee on Monday.
In the win, Yordan Alvarez led the way with three hits, two home runs (one grand slam), five runs batted in, and three runs scored. On the season, he is now hitting .305/.399/.616 with a team-leading 12 home runs, 46 runs batted in, and 29 runs scored.
Other contributors for the Astros include Kyle Tucker (7 HR, 33 RBI), Alex Bregman, 6 HR, 23 RBI), and Jeremy Pena (6 HR, 22 RBI). Despite sitting out Monday’s opener, the Astros are also excited to have Jose Altuve back. In three games, he is two for nine with a run batted in thus far.
On the bump for Dusty Baker’s club Tuesday will be rookie J.P. France. In three games this season, he is 1-0 with a 4.11 ERA, 1.24 WHIP, and he has struck out 10 in 15.1 innings.
Brewers Looking To Hold Onto Division Lead
At 25-22, the Milwaukee Brewers are currently in a tie with the Pittsburgh Pirates for the NL Central lead. While it is still early in the season, the Brewers would love to create a little separation in the division by picking up some wins. They will look to add another tally to the win column on Tuesday at home, where they are 13-9 this season.
Taking the ball for Craig Counsell’s team Tuesday will be 32-year-old righty Colin Rea. In seven games, he is 0-3 with a 5.52 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, and he has 25 strikeouts in 31 innings. In his last outing, Rea took a no-decision after allowing four earned runs over 3.2 innings to the Royals.
Offensively, the Brewers currently rank 23rd in the majors in scoring. They are averaging 4.20 runs per game, although that is slightly better at home at 4.71 runs.
Leading the way for the offense is Rowdy Tellez. He is hitting .255/.350/.547 with a team-leading 12 home runs and 26 runs batted in.
Christian Yelich has also had a bit of a bounce back season as he is hitting .257/.337/.413 with seven home runs, 24 runs batted in, and a team-leading 33 runs scored.
Take Houston To Win Straight Up
Looking at the trends, the Astros are undefeated in their last eight games and 4-1 in their last five games against National League teams.
For Milwaukee, they are 1-4 in their last five games, but they are 6-2 in their last eight against AL West teams.
Neither of the team exactly has a dominant pitcher going on the mound Tuesday, so the offenses could prevail in this one. As Monday showed, the Astros currently have the hottest team in baseball, and it would not be surprising if that continues in the second game of this series.
For that reason, take Houston to win this one straight up at -130.
