Houston Astros vs. New York Yankees 6/22/19: Starting Lineups, Matchup Preview, Betting Odds

TV/Radio Section

Houston Astros vs. New York Yankees, 6/22/19 7:15 PM ET Yankee Stadium, Bronx, NY
TV: Astros (ATT SportsNet-SW), Yankees (WPIX, MLBN)
Radio: Astros (KBME 790 AM/94.5 FM HD-2, La Ranchera 850 AM), Yankees (WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280)

Matchup Preview

Once again, the Houston Astros lost to the New York Yankees in the second game of a four game series to the final score of 4-1. New York extended their winning streak to seven straight games and Houston continues to go down in their winning percentage, going 3-7 in their last ten including their last six games. Even with an almost healthy lineup, nobody expected the Astros to be this bad. Meanwhile, the Yankees are back to full health on the offensive side as Aaron Judge made his return from injury Friday night.

The Astros will hope to stop their losing streak at six by sending Wade Miley (6-4) to the mound on Saturday night. Last night, their offense sputtered and scored a lone one run in the fourth off of James Paxton. Entering last night, their first few batters each had very good success against Paxton though you certainly wouldn’t believe that from looking at the box score. Alex Bregman and Michael Brantley were virtually non-existent, going a combined 0-10. Jose Altuve was the only Astro who found success at the plate with a three hit game. Brad Peacock was impressive with 11 strikeouts and 2 earned runs over six innings though the offense simply couldn’t help him out, leading to his fifth loss of the season.

Masahiro Tanaka (5-5) will take the mound for the Yankees who will look to win a game for an entire week straight. He’ll look to pick up where James Paxton left off in a game that saw him go 5 innings with 7 strikeouts and 1 earned run. The rest of the game was dominated by the New York bullpen which only allowed two hits from the Astros from the sixth inning on. Offensively, we were excited to see how manager Aaron Boone would organize the lineup after getting Aaron Judge back from the injured list. Gary Sanchez and Didi Gregorious each had two hits though Gleyber Torres was the hero of the night after launching a two run homer in the 7th, eventually sealing the win for the Yankees.

Astros Starting Lineup

1. Alex Bregman (R) SS
2. Michael Brantley (L) LF
3. Jose Altuve (R) 2B
4. Yordan Alvarez (L) DH
5. Yuli Gurriel (R) 3B
6. Robinson Chirinos (R) C
7. Josh Reddick (L) RF
8. Tyler White (R) 1B
9. Jake Marisnick (R) CF

Astros Analysis

The Astros offense had an off night on Friday, scoring only once despite getting seven hits and drawing seven walks. There was some bad ball luck and some lack of hitting with runners in scoring position. Besides that, the pitching was great and saw a tough loss to Brad Peacock on a night where his performance should’ve been good enough for a win. Houston still comfortably remains 7.5 games ahead of the Rangers as their road record now sits at 21-18. Prior to their current roadtrip, their road record sat at an impressive 21-13

The Astros have seen plenty of Masahiro Tanaka and have done some real damage to him. Catcher Robinson Chirinos essentially owns him; in 12 career at-bats, he has a .417 batting average while Alex Bregman has hit .500 with a homer in 6 at-bats. Equally as excellent are Jose Altuve at .294 with 2 homers and Michael Brantley at .250 with 1 home run. They’ll definitely have to start the offense early as opposed to garner a result different than last night.

Wade Miley has had somewhat mixed results so far in 2019. His ERA has increased from 2.57 to 3.30, the WHIP is nearly identical, but his strikeout rate has gone from 5.6 K/9 to 7.5 K/9. In 15 starts this year, he’s only allowed more than three runs once and has gone nearly six innings every start. On the road, his season ERA jumps from 3.30 to 4.68. In his last ten starts, he struggled against the Reds, Mariners, and Tigers and has been otherwise exceptional against other teams.

Yankees Starting Lineup

1. DJ LeMahieu (R) 2B
2. Aaron Judge (R) RF
3. Luke Voit (R) 1B
4. Gary Sanchez (R) C
5. Giancarlo Stanton (R) LF
6. Edwin Encarnancion (R) DH
7. Gleyber Torres (R) 2B
8. Aaron Hicks (S) CF
9. Didi Gregorious (L) SS

Yankees Analysis

Aaron Judge came back to the lineup on Friday night and hit leadoff. Meanwhile Aaron Hicks was held out of the lineup with shoulder soreness but ended up playing when left fielder Cameron Maybin was forced to leave the game with a left calf strain. We’ll likely see a more complete lineup tonight as either Hicks will likely be forced to play through his injury or some combination of Edwin Encarnancion and Luke Voit are deployed at 1B/DH. Once again, the Yankees were helped by the long ball with all their runs coming via home run.

With such a veteran team, the Yankees have gotten to see Wade Miley many times in their past. Outfielders Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, Aaron Hicks, and Brett Gardner have hit .400, .333, .333, and .263 against him respectively. No matter which of the four Boone decides to start, New York is likely to have success against Miley. On the infield, Edwin Encarnancion has 3 career homers and a .294 average while DJ LeMahieu and Didi Gregorious have hit .385 and .364, respectively. Whatever lineup they put out on Saturday night, the Yankees lineup will look very dangerous.

In is only start against the Astros this season in April, Masahiro Tanaka allowed one run in six innings of work. More recently, Tanaka has been fairly dominant including wins in his last two starts. Against the Rays on Monday, Tanaka struck out ten without allowing a run in a complete game shutout. I’d look for him to continue his recent stretch of success as the Astros’ righty-heavy lineup will possibly struggle. This year, Tanaka has limited right handed batters to a .207 average compared to a .263 average against lefties.

Astros vs Yankees Betting Odds

The line is currently set at Astros +108, Yankees -108.
I expect the Astros to be in contention for the most part of the game though they will need to score off Tanaka early. On the pitching side, Miley will need to provide Houston with at least 6 and limit the damage by New York’s lineup. I’d look for Tanaka to continue his success off his last start but most importantly, who will the Yankees put in their lineup. The over/under is set at 10.5.

Bet on Matchup

If you’re in Pennsylvania, you can bet on this matchup. Sports betting is legal in PA. Our top rated online sportsbook bonus offers can be found in our articles: Fanduel Sportsbook promo code, DraftKings Sportsbook promo code & Pointsbet promo code.