July 1, 2013: Tampa Bay Rays vs. Houston Astros
The Houston Astros, fresh faces in the AL West division, are in full-blown rebuilding mode. And why not? At 30-52, they’re dead last in the division at 18 games out of first place. They’re near the bottom of all of Major League Baseball in almost every statistical category, ranking 23rd in runs, 26th in batting average and 27th in on-base percentage. Their problems were exemplified over the weekend by the Los Angeles Angels’ three game sweep of them at home. In the deciding game, a 3-1 Angels victory, shortstop Jake Elmore overthrew a ball that cost the Astros the game.
“Two of the most important fundamentals in baseball are throwing and catching,” Houston manager Bo Porter said. “If you give teams extra men on base, odds are, at some point those guys are going to score. We have to do a better job of protecting the baseball.”
“Over the past couple of years in Triple-A, I’ve never had an issue with throwing the ball,” Elmore said. “Accuracy has always been a big part of my game. In the first couple of games here, I’ve had some errant throws, and obviously, that’s not good when it’s a tied ballgame.”
Indeed, this Astros team is historically bad, and their luck is about to get even worse. They have a four game homestand against the 43-39 Tampa Bay Rays starting today, and then they go on a devastating five-game road trip against the Texas Rangers and St. Louis Cardinals. However, the future is bright for Houston. The team’s front office came over from St. Louis, where they built one of the most stable teams and deepest pools of talent in the league. However, that could take years to develop, and in the meantime the Astros will have to wallow in the basement of the AL West. One day, they may be able to usurp the Rangers, A’s and Angeles, but for now, things are pretty grim.
Here are the betting trends and odds for the Astros first game against the Tampa Bay Rays tonight, courtesy of OddsShark.com.
Houston Astros: +150 Moneyline Favorites
Tampa Bay Rays Trends:
When playing on Monday are 5-5
Before playing Houston are 7-3
After playing Detroit are 6-4
After a win are 5-5
Houston Astros Trends:
When playing on Monday are 5-5
Before playing Tampa Bay are 4-6
After playing LA Angels are 4-6
After a loss are 5-5
A few Rays at Astros trends to consider:
Tampa Bay is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing Houston
Tampa Bay is 5-0 SU in its last 5 games when playing on the road against Houston
The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Tampa Bay’s last 7 games
The total has gone UNDER in 7 of Tampa Bay’s last 9 games on the road
The total has gone UNDER in 8 of Houston’s last 11 games when playing Tampa Bay
The total has gone UNDER in 13 of Houston’s last 19 games
The total has gone UNDER in 12 of Houston’s last 18 games at home
Houston is 1-4 SU in its last 5 games at home
