Twins vs. Astros prediction: Picks, odds, live stream, TV channel, start time on Thursday, August 25

The Minnesota Twins and Houston Astros square off on Thursday, August 25 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. Minnesota will start Chris Archer (2-6, 4.02 ERA), while Houston counters with Luis Garcia (10-8, 4.09 ERA).

The Twins (62-60) have lost five games in a row. They have seen their divisional lead slip away and need to get off their losing streak before even a playoff berth is out of reach. Archer will be starting his 22nd game of the year and will be facing the Astros for the second time. On May 11, he pitched three innings and gave up five hits and four earned runs while striking out two and earning the loss against Houston. Minnesota returns home on Friday and welcomes the San Francisco Giants to town.

The Astros (80-45) have won three games in a row, including the first two in this series. On Wednesday, Jose Altuve hit a leadoff home run to start the scoring early. Trey Mancini followed it up with a two-run home run in the sixth to push the game to a 5-1 lead for Houston that the Twins never returned from. Garcia will start his 23rd game of the season and has won back-to-back starts. He last pitched five innings and gave up seven hits and three earned runs while striking out four. Houston will welcome the Baltimore Orioles to town on Friday for a three-game set.

Twins vs. Astros

Pitchers: Chris Archer vs. Luis Garcia
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
Run total: 8.5
Moneyline odds: Twins +150, Astros -175

Moneyline pick: Astros -175

Houston has dominated this series. While they haven't lit up the scoreboard, they have gotten dominant pitching performances from Justin Verlander and Framber Valdez so far this series. Luis Garcia gives them yet another advantage on the mound, and their lineup should do the rest.

Player prop pick: Luis Garcia over 5.5 strikeouts (+105)

Garcia's strikeout numbers are down this month compared to July. He only has one start with more than five strikeouts in August. Still, he has at least six punchouts in five of his last nine outings. When he faced Minnesota earlier this season, he struck out nine.

  
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