MLB World Series Game 2 Odds and Betting Picks
The Washington Nationals shocked baseball fans, Game 1of the World Series on the road from the heavily favored Houston Astros. What may be even more impressive is that they handed Gerrit Cole, who had previously won his last 18 decisions, his first loss since the end of May. I guess all good things really do come to an end. First Pitch of Game 2 is scheduled for 8:07 ET Tuesday night as the Astros will look to even things up. Let’s take a look at the odds and betting picks for Game 2 of the World Series.
ALCS Game 4 Odds and Betting Picks: Nationals at Astros
- Nationals +156 (use our FanDuel Sportsbook promo code to get these odds)
- Astros -180
- Total Runs: 7
The Astros are -180 favorites on the money line to even up the series Tuesday night and I like their chances to do just that. This postseason, they’ve shown they are capable of responding when their backs are against the wall. They put a dominant performance together in an elimination Game 5 against the Rays in the Division series. After the Yankees throttled them in Game 1 of the Championship series, they responded by gutting out a 3-2 victory in Game 2. This team is battle tested and they won’t flinch getting down early in this series.
If you’re the Nationals, congratulations; you just defeated one of the top two Cy Young candidates in the American League. Now, you have to face the other one. Justin Verlander has been stellar all season long and the backbone of the Astros rotation. They will need everything he has to keep this hot Nationals lineup at bay. While he has struggled in his second starts in each of their first two series’, he was spectacular in each of his first starts. Many of the hitters in the Nationals lineup have never faced Verlander before which plays to his advantage. I think he’ll do everything he can to give the Astros a chance to win.
The Astros offense is coming around as well. Lead-off hitter, George Springer, has seemingly left his early postseason slump behind as he’s now 4 for his last 11 and drove in a couple of runs in game 1. The Astros also uncharacteristically left 25 runners on base in game 1. Which shows they had plenty of chances to blow the game open. Odds are they’ll be more likely to capitalize on these situations as the series moves along.
This is a series of two very talented teams as you would expect in a World Series matchup. Every game is likely going to be a toss-up. But the Astros can’t afford to drop a second home game before playing the next three in Washington. They know that. They have their horse on the mound in their home ballpark. They’ve been the best team in baseball all season long. I like their chances to even the series on Tuesday night.
The total for this game opened at 7.5, which is a full run higher than the line set for Game 1. This is interesting because Stephen Strasburg is on the mound who has been the best pitcher for the Nationals this postseason. Everyone thought Monday night was going to be a pitcher’s duel and they were wrong Conventional wisdom tells you Game 2 will also be a pitcher’s duel. I see this billing living up to the hype. Runs will be at a premium in this matchup between two aces. The run total has since fallen to 7, but I still like the Under.
World Series Game 2 — Player Props
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For Game 2 of the World Series , I’m looking at the over/under for the strikeout totals of the two starting pitchersat. Verlander is set at 7.5 while Strasburg is set at 6.5. The Astros are traditionally a tough team to strikeout. Scherzer managed to strikeout 7 in game 1. Strasburg has been borderline unhittable this postseason striking out double digit hitters in his last two starts. While the Astros will make it tough, I think he’ll be able to at least match Scherzer’s total from game 1. Verlander is averaging 7.25 Ks through his 4 postseason starts. He will need to have a dominant performance in this game for them to have success. I believe he’ll be up to the task. I like O7.5 Ks for him as well.