T.M. Selection: Houston Astros -1.5.

I like the Houston Astros runline against the Seattle Mariners in this game on Tuesday. The Astros lost the 1st game of their series with the Mariners yesterday but I expect them to bounce back here and get back to their winning ways. They had a great effort early in that game tying it up 4-4 after going down 4-1 in the 2nd inning but then the offense dried up after that and they went on to lose 7-4. This series is in their own ballpark though and I expect a big bounce back from their offense here, especially with this pitching matchup tonight. Chris Flexen (2-6, 4.55 ERA) is up for the Mariners here and he has looked really bad this year, consistently pitching badly in the games he has started. He has started in 10+ games this year and he hasn't had 1 start yet where he wasn't charged with an earned run. Not only has he been giving up runs in every start, but a majority of his starts sees him giving up 3+ runs and that is going to get them into trouble here against a good hitting and angry Astros team. Justin Verlander (6-2, 2.23 ERA) is up for the Astros here and he has looked great all year. He had 1 bad start the other week but other than that 1 bad start, he has looked great and hasn't been giving up many runs in a majority of his starts. He is what this team needs after giving up 7 runs yesterday and Verlander will also be looking to bounce back here too since his 1 bad start this year was against the Mariners in Seattle. Now being back in their home ballpark, I expect Verlander to pitch a great game while the lineup backs him up with run support here. I like the Astros runline in this game.

T.M. Prediction: 6-1 Astros.