Twins vs. Astros prediction: Picks, odds, live stream, TV channel, start time on Wednesday, August 24

The Minnesota Twins and Houston Astros square off on Wednesday with first pitch set for 8:10 p.m. ET. The game takes place at Minute Maid Park in Houston and will only be available on local TV or through an MLB.tv subscription. Framber Valdez (12-4, 2.72 ERA) will take the mound for Houston, and Dylan Bundy (7-5, 4.60 ERA) will pitch for Minnesota.

The Twins (62-59) are coming off a two-run loss last night to Justin Verlander and the Astros. An argument between Twins pitcher Aaron Sanchez and Astros second baseman Jose Altuve caused the benches to clear and led to Minnesota manager Rocco Baldelli's ejection. Despite the Twins' near-.500 record, they're sitting only 3.0 games behind the AL Central lead.

The Astros (79-45) are sitting comfortably atop the AL West. Two-time Cy Young winner Verlander has notched a 16-3 record so far this season, and Houston ranks eighth in MLB in runs per game (4.59). Valdez is heating up, too, posting a 4-1 record in his last five starts.

Twins vs. Astros

Pitchers: Dylan Bundy vs. Framber Valdez
First pitch: 8:10 p.m. ET
Twins local broadcast: Bally Sports North
Astros local broadcast: AT&T SportsNet-Southwest
Live stream: MLB.tv (subscription)

Odds, picks & predictions

Run Line: Astros -1.5 (-105)
Run total: 7.5
Moneyline odds: Astros -230, Twins +195

Moneyline pick: Astros -230

The pitching mismatch might be too much to overlook with Valdez taking the mound – the Astros LHP hit 20 consecutive quality starts last week – and after the Twins struggled through six no-hit innings last night, I don't see much of an upside with a Minnesota pick, even with the small payout from Houston.

Player prop pick: TBD

  
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