It’s Monday, July 29, and the Pittsburgh Pirates (53-52) and Houston Astros (55-50) begin a series at Minute Maid Park in Houston, TX. Sunday, the Pirates came from behind to knock off the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-5 in extra innings in what manager Derek Shelton touted as the Bucs’ biggest win of the season. They now sit 2 games behind the Mets in the race for the final wild card spot. Houston lost Sunday but took two of three over the weekend against the Los Angeles Dodgers. They sit tied in the American League West with the Seattle Mariners.
We’ve got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on the how to catch first-pitch, projected pitching matchup, lineup cards, recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks & best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.
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Game details & how to watch Pirates vs. Astros live today
● Date: Monday, July 29, 2024
● Time: 8:10 PM EST
● Site: Minute Maid Park
● City: Houston, TX
● TV/Streaming: SportsNet-PIT, Space City Home Network
Never miss a second of the action and stay up-to-date with all the latest team stats and player news. Check out our day-by-day MLB schedule page, along with detailed matchup pages that update live in-game with every out.
Game odds for Pirates vs. Astros
The latest odds as of Monday morning:
● Moneyline: Pirates -135, Astros +150
● Spread: Pirates -1.5 (+135), Astros +1.5 (-160)
● Over/Under: 7.5 runs
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Recent team stats for Pittsburgh vs. Houston
● Joey Bart delivered the big hit to drive in the tying runs in the 9th inning Sunday against the Diamondbacks before the Bucs won in the 10th. The Pirates are 6-4 in their last 10. They are 27-26 on the road this season. Their overall run differential is -10.
● The Astros took two of three vs. the Dodgers. Houston is 5-5 in their last 10. They are 30-22 at Minute Maid Park this season. Their overall run differential is +51. Alex Bregman has hits in 16 of his last 19 games.
Probable starting pitchers for Pirates vs. Astros
● Today’s pitching matchup (July 29): Paul Skenes vs. Jake Bloss
○ Pirates: Skenes (6-1, 1.93 ERA) has allowed 16 earned runs and 52 hits while striking out 97 over 74.2 innings
○ Astros: Bloss (0-1, 6.94 ERA) has allowed 9 earned runs and 16 hits while striking out 11 over 11.2 innings
Rotoworld still has you covered with all the latest MLB player news for all 30 teams. Check out the feed page right here on NBC Sports for headlines, injuries and transactions where you can filter by league, team, positions and news type!
Top betting trends & insights to know ahead of Pirates vs. Astros on July 29, 2024
● The Pirates have covered the Run Line in 4 of their last 5 road games
● The Astros have won 7 of their 11 homes games against teams with worse records this season
● The UNDER is 58-42-5 in Houston games this season
If you’re looking for more key trends and stats around the spread, moneyline and total for every single game on the schedule today, check out our MLB Top Trends tool on NBC Sports!
Expert picks & predictions for Monday’s Pirates vs. Astros game
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Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the MLB calendar based on data points like past performance, player matchups, ballpark information and weather forecasts.
Once the model is finished running, we put its projection next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.
Here are the best bets our model is projecting for today’s Pirates vs. Astros game:
- Moneyline: NBC Sports is recommending Houston on the Moneyline (+115)
- Spread: NBC Sports is recommending taking the Astros on the Run Line (-160)
- Total runs: NBC Sports is recommending a play on the OVER of 7.5 Total Runs (+100)
Want even more MLB best bets and predictions from our expert staff & tools? Check out the Expert MLB Predictions page from NBC Sports for money line, spread and total picks for each of the games on today’s calendar!
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- Jay Croucher (@croucherJD)
- Drew Dinsick (@whale_capper)
- Vaughn Dalzell (@VmoneySports)
- Brad Thomas (@MrBradThomas)
