The best two words in sports: Game 7. For the first time this season, a postseason series will go the distance. It’s been a relatively quiet postseason since the series have been shorter than expected, but finally, we are gifted with a Game 7. So, without further ado, here’s my Game 7 Same Game Parlay that I made at FanDuel Sportsbook.
Texas Rangers ML (+110) over Houston Astros
The home team has yet to win a game in the ALCS. The Rangers took Games 1 and 2 in Houston, and the Astros followed that with wins in Games 3, 4 and 5 in Arlington. Last night, the setting shifted back to Houston, and in keeping with the trend, the Rangers won to force a Game 7. That means the winner of tonight's game will advance to the World Series, and the losing team will have their journey cut short. On the bump in this critical game is Max Scherzer for the Rangers and Cristian Javier for the Astros, and between these two pitchers, the Astros seem to have the upper hand. Oddsmakers agreed and have listed the Stros as the small favorite in Houston tonight.
Max Scherzer made his postseason debut in Game 3, and his long-awaited return didn't go as planned. The Astros made the veteran work and tagged Scherzer for 5 runs, 5 hits and 1 home run in just 4 innings. It wasn't the same Scherzer we had grown accustomed to seeing, and if he has a similar performance tonight, it will be his last start of the year. Opposing Scherzer is the right-hander Cristian Javier, who didn't have the best regular season but apparently saves all of his quality starts for the postseason. Javier was fabulous in his one outing of the ALCS, as he seems to be the only Houston pitcher who can shut down the potent Rangers lineup. However, even with his exceptional outings, it's hard to ignore Houston's home and away splits in this series. I'm backing the Rangers at plus odds.
Alternate under 8.5 (+106)
Game 7 has a history of being low-scoring. This is for several reasons, but the first is that managers would rather play it safe than sorry. Once their pitcher starts to run into trouble, the manager won't hesitate to go to the bullpen. Every arm in each bullpen should be available tonight since the winner of tonight's game has until Friday to rest before the World Series starts. For that reason, I would be very surprised to see either Scherzer or Javier go further than 5 innings. My guess is that if Bruce Bochy and Dusty Baker can get 4-5 innings out of their starter with 2 or fewer runs scored, that's a win, and that's when the bullpen will get involved.