Gambling guide

Want to bet? Here are some plays for the weekend

Will Gary Patterson and TCU cover the spread this week? Tom Pennington/Getty Images

Jay K. Stark provides weekly gambling selections for SportsMap and Houstonsportsandstuff:

Maryland @ Ohio State -30.5: Minnesota looked flat and took a 3rd string Maryland QB for granted last week- Urban Meyer will not. Ohio State can name their number here and I think it gets out of hand in a hurry.

Washington State @ Oregon +2.5: Prove it to me Leach. Washington State has not played a road game all year and is coming off the biggest win in their programs history. If Oregon brings any form of defense to this game I think they win outright. Can Oregon cover and tackle anyone? I hope so.

West Virginia +13.5 @ TCU Hold your nose. I know TCU is very good.  However, they have covered as a DD favorite at home 1 of their last 12 times. I heard an interview this week on 97.5, in which Coach Holgorsen told John and Raheel, “We are blessed to be on the same field this week with those guys.” (catch that at podcastarena) WVU needs to stop the run. But they should put up a spirited effort this week.

Chiefs @ Texans +1 Breaking from the theme of the week of picking against teams coming off a HUGE win, this is a bad spot for the Chiefs with back to back nationally televised games and less time for travel. There is going to be time to fade the Texans, but the line says they are the right play this week.

Possible adds Saturday morning.

As always, any questions or hate mail please direct them to me @jayoff288

 

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With so much on the line for the Astros this past weekend, they couldn't possibly get swept by the Royals, could they?

That's exactly what they did thanks to some poor pitching, and an inability to get timely hits with runners in scoring position.

The Astros are currently clinging to the last wild card position as they head to Seattle to face the Mariners, with Justin Verlander on the mound for the 'Stros.

Starting pitching has been the biggest issue for the club as of late, with Hunter Brown looking unusable moving forward. Brown has given up, wait for this, 6 earned runs or more in 3 of his last 4 starts. His ERA for the season is now over 5.

So how will the rotation look over the final stretch of games? We know for the Mariners series the team is rolling out Verlander, Cristian Javier, and Framber Valdez.

The club is off on Thursday, and they head to Arizona for a 3-game series with the Diamondbacks that starts Friday. We predict JP France will pitch Friday, with Justin Verlander likely taking the ball Saturday.

Then all bets are off for Sunday. It could be Framber on 3-days rest, or all hands on deck for a bullpen game.

Of course, with the division race being so close, things could change on a daily basis. There's even a scenario where Arizona secures their wild card, and the final two games of the season don't matter for them.

The other big factor will be the outcome of the 4-game Rangers-Mariners series that finishes off the season.

Be sure to watch the video above as we examine all the scenarios leading up to the end of the regular season for Houston, and much more!

Watch Stone Cold 'Stros (an Astros podcast) every Thursday on SportsMap Houston's YouTube channel.

And listen to ESPN 97.5 and 92.5 FM for Houston's best sports talk.

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