Orioles vs. Astros Predictions, Picks, Best Bets & Odds: Monday, 9/18

Tonight, the Orioles will travel to Houston to begin a three game series with the defending champion Astros. Baltimore clinched a playoff spot on Sunday for the first time since 2016, and now they’re hoping to stay on top of their AL East division and avoid having to play on Wildcard Weekend. The Astros are in a very similar spot at the moment, as they lead the AL West by just 1.5 games. 

Houston is coming off two separate series losses to much lesser opponents in the Oakland A’s and the Kansas City Royals. This feels like a bounce-back series for the Astros in a crucial part of the season, and the Orioles may have a bit of a hangover from Sunday’s celebration after clinching a postseason berth. 

Either way, we have a great series on our hands here, and it starts off with a fun pitching matchup tonight. We’ll break down our projected starters for tonight and make our official Orioles vs. Astros predictions below. Keep reading for our best bets, picks, odds, and starters for Monday night’s contest.

We also will provide you with information regarding a $300 FanDuel Sportsbook promotion, which can earn you $200 in bonus bets to use on our Orioles vs. Astros predictions, as well as get you $100 off on the NFL Sunday Ticket.

BALTIMORE ORIOLES VS. HOUSTON ASTROS PREDICTION: Astros Money Line (-158 at FanDuel Sportsbook)

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Orioles vs. Astros Predictions for Monday, 9/18

On Monday night, we kick off a series between two of the best teams in MLB. These lineups are stacked for Baltimore and Houston, as both squads are hunting division wins in the AL East and AL West. First, let’s take a look at where Baltimore stands going into this series. The Orioles are currently just two games ahead of Tampa Bay in the AL East, after winning in dramatic fashion to clinch a playoff spot for the first time in seven years. Baltimore split their series with the Rays on a walk-off sacrifice fly from Cedric Mullins in the 11th inning last night.

They’re aware of who they’re facing in Houston, though, and Baltimore will need to look sharp here if they want to stay on top in the AL East. In the other dugout, we have an Astros club who is well overdue for a series win, after dropping their last two series to the Athletics and Royals. Winning a series against the Orioles is no easy task this season, but if anyone can get it done when it’s needed most, it's the Astros.

Now, per usual, we need to check out our starting pitching matchup before making our official Orioles vs. Astros predictions. First, let’s look at the away team Orioles projected starting pitcher tonight. John Means is set to take the hill on Monday night for Baltimore, and his stats aren’t exactly great. Means has pitched only five innings for the O’s this season, in which he gave up five hits and two home runs. This led to an ERA of 5.40. Obviously, this is a small sample size, but these stats aren’t very convincing to bettors considering who he’ll be facing on the other side.

For Houston, we get to see future hall of famer Justin Verlander on the bump. Verlander came back to Houston this summer after a short stint with the Mets, and the Astros are more than happy to have him back for yet another playoff run. The veteran has been solid again this season, with a winning record of 11-8 and an ERA of just 3.39. Verlander’s ability to work the zone and burn the edges of the strike zone is still very impressive, and the 40-year-old hasn’t shown many signs of declining.

Now let’s dive into some of the key hitters on both sides of this one. For the Orioles, Yordan Alvarez leads the way in home runs with 28 on the year. Alvarez's power is always on display, and his ability to drive the ball all over the park is unmatched. He will face a left hander tonight in Means, but this shouldn’t affect Yordan too much. Also for Houston, Kyle Tucker is having another standout year with a .283 average and 105 RBI on the year. When we look at Baltimore, however, we also see plenty of star power. Anthony Santander has 27 homers this year and leads the O’s in RBI with 84. Austin Hays has also been great all season with a batting average of .282.

This matchup feels fairly even when it comes to batting, but we believe that the Astros have a good edge over the Orioles simply due to the pitching matchup. Verlander is familiar with this Orioles lineup and the Astros need a win in this series. We predict that the Astros can jump out to an early lead on John Means, giving Verlander the run support to come out with a win at home in a big spot.

Orioles vs. Astros Picks & Best Bets

As we stated above, we believe the Astros can come out on top of this one, given the circumstances, home field, and the pitching matchup with Verlander starting. The Astros money line is currently (-158) at FanDuel Sportsbook. 

This line may feel a bit pricey, but we think it’s worth it. If you want a bit of a juicier line, we’d also recommend taking the Astros -1.5 (+134) at FanDuel. This is a bit riskier, but if you don’t want to play it safe, the value is there on the run line.

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Orioles vs. Astros Odds and Projected Starters via FanDuel Sportsbook

Below, we’ve listed the official odds for our Orioles vs. Astros predictions, as well as the projected starting pitchers for Monday night.

Money Line: Orioles (+134) vs. Astros (-158)

Run Line: Orioles +1.5 (-162) vs. Astros -1.5 (+134)

Total: Over 8.5 (-118) vs. Under 8.5 (104)

This means that a $158 wager on the Astros to win will profit you $100, while a $100 wager on the Orioles would make you $134 in profit.

Projected starting Pitchers for tonight:

Orioles: John Means (0-1)

Astros: Justin Verlander (11-8)

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