Houston Astros vs Cleveland Guardians Prediction: Astros to overcome their inconsistency

On Tuesday, Major League Baseball action will be broadcast from Minute Maid Park with a matchup between the Cleveland Guardians and the Houston Astros. Over the last weekend, the Cleveland Guardians and the Chicago White Sox played multiple games against one another as part of a lengthy series. The Cleveland Guardians started off the series with a consecutive defeats record, but they turned things around with a 3-0 victory on Sunday. The Houston Astros recently finished a series against the Tampa Bay Rays, in which they split the first two games of the series. The Houston Astros were handed a humiliating six-run loss in the decisive game that was played on Sunday.

The Houston Astros' first game of the weekend was a loss to the Tampa Bay Rays by a score of 4-3, while game two was a resounding victory for the Astros by a score of 17-4. In the decisive victory, it was Jeremy Pena of the Houston Astros who led the way with four RBI. The Houston Astros were defeated 8-2 on Sunday after surrendering four runs in the very first inning of the game. Jose Altuve and Jeremy Pena each contributed half of the team's 10 hits. Altuve had three hits, and Pena had two hits and a run. J.P. France will take the mound for the Houston Astros on Tuesday as the team's starting pitcher. In 14 starts so far this season, France has a record of 6-3 with a 2.87 earned run average, 58 strikeouts, and 84.2 innings pitched. In his previous seven starts, France has a record of 4-2 with a 2.25 earned-run average.

On Thursday, the Cleveland Guardians defeated the Chicago White Sox 6-3, but then went on to lose the next two games by scores of 3-0 and 7-2. In the game they played on Saturday, Steven Kwan had a 3-for-4 batting line. Jose Ramirez hit two home runs and drove in three runs for the Cleveland Guardians in a 5-0 victory on Sunday. Andres Gimenez tallied a run, an RBI, and two walks, while Steven Kwan contributed a solo home run and two hits. The Cleveland Guardians have decided to go with Noah Syndergaard as their starting pitcher for the game on Monday. This year, in 12 starts, Syndergaard has a record of 1-4 with a 7.16 earned run average and 38 strikeouts across 55.1 innings pitched. In his previous start, Syndergaard allowed six earned runs over the course of three and a half innings.

I'm going to back the Houston Astros in this contest. As they cruised to a decisive victory over the Tampa Bay Rays on Saturday, the Houston Astros' potent offense was on full display, as the team collected 18 hits along the way. Since Syndergaard has been very shaky as of late, the batting lineup should have a good chance to do well in this opening game as well. Syndergaard struggled in his first appearance back on the mound, allowing six earned runs in just three innings. That brings the total number of earned runs he's allowed over the past 14.0 innings to 17. The Houston Astros' starting pitchers had a hard day on the mound on Sunday, allowing five earned runs in the first seven innings of the game. It has been six of the last seven games for the Houston Astros that they have scored at least three runs, so I have high hopes for their offense to return in this opening.