MLB Betting: Astros, Happ take on Phillies

New hitting coach Jeff Bagwell has had an impact on the Astros’ offense.

Pitcher J.A. Happ will face his old Phillies team when the Houston Astros visit Philadelphia on Wednesday night. This is the third game of a four-game set.

Happ and two prospects came over at the trade deadline for Roy Oswalt. Oswalt won’t pitch this series, but he’s 3-1 with a 2.43 ERA since the trade. Philly believes he can form an unbeatable playoff trio along with Roy Halladay and Cole Hamels.

Happ (3-2, 3.54 ERA) has made five starts with Houston and is 2-2 with a 4.62 ERA. He missed most of the beginning of the year with an elbow injury. However, he showed plenty of promise last season (12-4, 2.93 ERA) and was a player Philadelphia didn’t want to give up.

The 27-year-old lefty had a horrific start at St. Louis on August 4 (seven earned runs in one inning). His other four starts with Houston have all been quality efforts (2.22 ERA).

Happ has a decent strikeout rate (7.30), but he’s walked 29 batters in 40 2/3 innings. He’s given up almost as many walks (17) as hits (18) in his Houston starts. This is his first lifetime outing against Philadelphia, his only club before the trade.

The Astros (55-69) are playing hard despite being out of the playoff race. They’re 19-16 since the All-Star break, including beating Philly 3-2 in the Monday series opener. The Tuesday night game is still pending.

Formers Astros star Jeff Bagwell was hired as hitting coach at the break. The team is scoring 4.69 runs per game since compared to 3.45 before. However, the bats have been quiet the last eight games (2.25 runs per game), with the ‘under’ going 6-2.

Philadelphia (70-54) is 2 ½-games behind Atlanta in the NL East and leads the wild card by one game over St. Louis and San Francisco. The Phillies are 22-8 in their last 30 games, but just 4-3 on their 10-game road trip so far.

The offense has been silent the last five games (2.40 runs per game). The ‘under’ has gone 4-1 on the MLB odds board.

Halladay (16-8, 2.16 ERA) will get the start for Philadelphia. He’s 6-0 in his last six games with a 1.37 ERA. He hasn’t allowed a run in his last two starts (15 innings).
 
The 33-year-old righty has been tremendous at home this year (10-4, 1.84 ERA). The ‘under’ is 7-2 in his last nine home starts. He’s hasn’t pitched less than 5 2/3 innings in a game this year, reaching 200 innings already. He’s clearly enjoying the NL after toiling in the tough AL East for so many years.

Halladay’s one career start against Houston came back on April 11 when he faced Oswalt. He had a complete-game 2-1 win while striking out eight.

Houston infielder Geoff Blum has a neck ailment. Philadelphia third baseman Placido Polanco has an elbow injury.

Brian Knight will call balls and strikes. Houston is 7-2 in his last nines game behind the plate. The ‘over’ is 4-0 in his last four games behind the dish.

First pitch on Wednesday is 4:05 p.m. (PT). Weather will be in 70s with scattered thunderstorms. The series with conclude Thursday at 10:05 a.m. (PT).