Houston Astros at Cleveland Guardians 8/7/22 - MLB Picks & Predictions

The Sunday MLB schedule will get underway with a matinee between the Houston Astros and the Cleveland Guardians from Progressive Field. The Astros (70-39) have won 36 of their 58 road games and trail the New York Yankees by one full game for the best overall record in the American League. Last night, Houston went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position and committed two errors during a 4-1 road loss against Cleveland. 

Twenty-five year old righty Cristian Jaiver (6-7 3.24 ERA) will take the mound for the Astros in this matchup. Houston has lost four of Javier’s last five starts and he has given up 14 runs over his last 24 plus frames.

The Cleveland Guardians are six games above .500 at home and are currently 1.5 games behind Minnesota for the top spot in the AL Central Division. On Saturday, Cleveland SS Amed Rosario drove in two runs with a single and scored the first run of the game on a Jose Ramirez double. SP Cal Quantrill (8-5) fired six shutout frames to earn the win for the Guardians, who improved to 55-52 on the season.

The Guardians will turn to talented right-hander Triston McKenzie (7-8 3.38 ERA) in the series finale. Through 120 innings of work, McKenzie has struck out 113 batters and owns a sparkling 1.00 WHIP.