The World Series is tied up at one a piece after Houston held on to steal game two by the score of 7-6 on Wednesday night. The Astros have taken over home field advantage as they head back to Minute Maid Park. LA tries to get back their edge with Yu Darvish on the mound. Houston is familiar with Darvish considering his time with the Texas Rangers. The Astros counter with Lance McCullers Jr in the 2017 World Series Game 3 free pick.
Astros Favorites in Game 3
McCullers was astounding in the decisive ALCS Game 7 against the Yankees, allowing just one hit over 4 IP while striking out six. He has allowed two runs or less in each of his three postseason starts this season, The 2017 World Series game 3 free pick will be McCullers’ fifth career start in the playoffs but the Dodgers have hit .445 against the right-hander in their careers.
Houston has to have the edge in confidence going into Friday night. Not only are they 6-0 at home during this postseason, they average 2 more runs a game and have an OPS over .200 higher. Plus, the Astros have finally solved the Dodgers bullpen so it seems, as they scored six runs over the final four innings in game two.
#Astros offense be like: pic.twitter.com/hiJ7q7chLM
— Mr. Wonderful (@AaronJBach) October 26, 2017
How Does LA Get Out of the Hole?
The Dodgers had the confidence rolling after a 3-1 win in game one but that all changed after they blew a late 3-1 lead on Wednesday night. Yu Darvish is the man responsible for righting the ship in the 2017 World Series game 3 free pick. Darvish has allowed only 1ER in each of his two postseason starts this season and has given up 8 hits in 11.1 IP. The Astros do have a past with Darvish with a combined 163 AB – but that hasn’t translated to success as they have a collective bating average of only .190.
Darvish will have to be on – not only because the Astros offense heats up at home – but also because his own batters have been so cold. LA is batting only .172 through the first two games and have been reliant on the home run with only one of their runs not coming from the long ball.
A walk and #Verlander‘s fastball gave #Dodgers a 2-run lead in 6- #Astros‘ offense went live in 8! #WorldSeries2017 https://t.co/lRKlWeELHf
— Helene Jnane (@HeleneJnane) October 27, 2017
2017 World Series Game 3 Free Pick – Betting
The Astros opened up as -114 favorites but heavy betting from over 70% of the public has pushed that number up to -130. With the Minute Maid Park roof likely closed tonight, things are going to be banging in Hou-Town. How are the young Dodgers batters going to handle such an electric atmosphere? Jose Altuve continues to hit the cover off the ball with three HRs in the past four postseason games and Carlos Correa has tallied 7 hits in four games. The combination of bats and home field advantage should be enough to propel the ‘Stros in the 2017 World Series game 3 free pick.
Pick: Houston Astros -130
