Astros vs. Yankees Free Pick May 9

The amazing Bobby Babowski is on the New York Yankees Thursday in their game against the Houston Astros.  Bobby B. currently ranks No. 2 on our customized MLB leaderboard. 

Full disclosure, Bobby B. is a native New Yorker so there could be an element of bias here.  Can we blame him? 

Let's see if he's onto something.

First off, Mr. Babowski was on Arizona last night.  We jumped on the Under 9.  Both of us had to sweat it out a bit in the final inning but in the end, Bobby and our play came through.

The Astros are not playing like the near dynasty they've been in recent years.  In fact, they come into this game with a disappointing 12-24 record whereas New York is now 25-13.  On paper at least, the Yankees are the better team.

New York has also won the last nine games and there is great value with the -136 line.  Bobby got them at -125 early.

Ronel Blanco is one of the Astros top pitchers.  He's 3-0 with a 2.09 ERA.

Blanco was charged for three runs over six innings Friday in a no-decision against the Mariners and, before that, he limited the Rockies to two runs on five hits over 5 2/3 innings in Mexico City.

Marcos Stroman starts for the Yankees with his 2-1 record and 3.41 ERA. 

He's only permitted this current Astros lineup 10 hits in 51 at bats (.191) along with 4 RBIs and a single home run from Jose Altuve, who remains dangerous this season.

We do like when a solid starter is coming off a bad outing.

In this case, Stroman struggled with his command in a no-decision against the Tigers on Friday night, allowing one run on three hits and five walks over his 5 1/3 innings of work.

And we like it even better when they are hungry for a win.  He yielded four runs and five walks in four-plus innings against the Brewers in his previous start.

We do like the Yankees here.