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The Seattle Mariners and Houston Astros will battle it out on Thursday in Game 2 of the ALDS. The Astros were the victors in the opening game thanks to late-inning heroics from their offense.
Houston, behind Cy Young favorite Justin Verlander, closed as the heavy favorite on Monday night, but Seattle's bats rocked the veteran early and often as they jumped out to a 5-3 lead. The Mariners held onto a comfortable four-run lead before the wheels fell off in the 8th. The Astros slugged two clutch homers, the nail in the coffin being a three-run walk-off blast courtesy of LF Yordan Alvarez.
Seattle SP Robbie Ray was tagged with the loss as the lefty came in to face Alvarez in what can only be viewed as a head-scratching move. Not only does Alvarez have similar splits against both lefties and righties, but now Ray's further availability is in question.
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Luis Castillo will toe the slab for the Cinderella-esque Mariners in Game 2 of the ALDS. Castillo, a second-half addition to Seattle's rotation, came over in a deadline trade from the Cincinnati Reds. The righty acclimated quickly, allowing only five runs in his first 20.2 innings. He finished the year with a 2.99 ERA and 1.08 WHIP in 25 starts between the Reds and Mariners. Castillo is relatively new to postseason play, as Wednesday's outing will mark just his third career playoff start.
Nevertheless, the small sample size from Castillo has been nothing short of dominant. The 29-year-old owns a sparkling 0.71 ERA and 8.5 K/9 in his 12.2 innings of postseason work. Although Castillo made 11 starts while donning the Navy Blue and Northwest Green, he somehow avoided playing against the rival Houston Astros. His only start against Houston dates back to 2019, a six-inning two-run effort in a 3-2 home win. The Astros' holdovers from that game are 3B Alex Bregman, 1B Yuli Gurriel, and DH Yordan Alvarez. The trio previously went 3-12 with four strikeouts against Castillo.
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Seattle Mariners vs. Houston Astros Betting Odds
Seattle Mariners vs. Houston Astros Betting Prediction
Although Luis Castillo has never faced these battle-hardened Astros before, his pitching ability is that of elite status. The righty already shoved against the Toronto Blue Jays in the Wild Card round (7.1 IP 0ER 5Ks), and he's never shied away from going after big bats. Meanwhile, Framber Valdez's dominance over the Mariners has been well documented. On the other end, one must question how morale is in the Seattle locker room after the Game 1 collapse. Julio Rodriguez and the crew may struggle to put up runs in this one, especially if they can't ambush Valdez early.
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Prediction: Under 7 runs (-120 at DraftKings)
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