Houston Astros reveal pitching odds for huge series against Seattle Mariners

The Houston Astros have revealed their version of the pitching matchups for this weekend’s huge series with the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park.

The Astros enter this series trailing the Mariners by one game in the American League. They hope to tie or surpass the division lead by the end of the weekend. Houston has been to the AL Championship Series or better in each of the last seven seasons and is in position to do so again if they can get past the M’s.

According to Seattle Times reporter Ryan Divish on social media:

Pitching probabilities for weekend series against the Astros:

Friday: Hunter Brown vs. Luis Castillo

Saturday: Framber Valdez vs. George Kirby

Sunday: Ronel Blanco vs. Bryan Woo

The Astros have dealt with a huge loss of pitchers this season, but this is the best rotation they can put on the field right now. Cristian Javier, Jose Urquidy and JP France are out for the season with injuries, while Justin Verlander is nursing a neck issue. Lance McCullers and Luis Garcia are still out.

Brown is 7-6 this season with a 4.39 ERA in 18 starts, but he’s been much better of late. He’s gone 6.0 innings in each of his last five starts and has allowed more than two earned runs in only one of those outings. He’s struck out 105 batters in 98.1 innings, and given that the M’s have the most strikeouts in the league, he could be primed for a big day.

Valdez is 8-5 this year with a 3.66 ERA. He is coming off a 7.0-inning, 10-strikeout performance against the Miami Marlins on July 10.

Blanco is 9-4 this year with a 2.56 ERA. He has struck out 100 batters in 109.0 innings.

The Astros also got a bit of a break this weekend by not having Logan Gilbert on the mound for Seattle. The All-Star will start against the Angels in the Mariners’ next series.

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