The Mets' Carlos Carrasco was pulled from his start last Wednesday at Houston due to back tightness. While the MRI came back clean, how effective he'll be tonight remains an open question. I'll back Houston to get to him again after the Astros put up five runs and three homers in just 2.1 innings last week. Behind a strong start from Framber Valdez, look for Houston to win for the 11th time in its last 15 road games.

Framber Valdez has been a quality start machine this season pitching one in 11 straight starts. The Mets also didn’t see him when they traveled to Houston last week. Carlos Carrasco has struggled to a 5.33 ERA this month and he was hit hard by the Astros in Houston last time around. The Mets are much better at home, but the Astros have played just fine on the road this season at 25-16. The Astros also could have honestly taken all four games of that series from the Yankees had it not been for two blown saves. The Mets are much worse against lefties and Valdez is one of the toughest lefties in the league. Jeff McNeil should be back in the lineup but it’s still a tough ask for him to go up against the lefty. Michael Brantley could be out again, but Jeremy Pena is back in the lineup. I like the Astros on the road.