The New York Yankees and Houston Astros meet Thursday in game 2 of the ALCS MLB action at Minute Maid Park. The New York Yankees look to even up the series at 1-1. The Houston Astros look to take a commanding 2-0 series lead.

The New York Yankees offense laid an egg in their season opener, producing just 2 runs and striking out 17 times. The Yankees have produced 2 runs in 2 different games this postseason, and they’ve now lost 7 of their last 8 games overall when scoring 3 or fewer runs. Anthony Rizzo leads the Yankees with 6 hits and 5 RBI, while Harrison Bader and Josh Donaldson have combined for 9 hits and 5 RBI. Luis Severino gets the ball, and he was 7-3 with a 3.18 ERA and 112 strikeouts this season. Severino is 1-3 with a 5.17 ERA and 38 strikeouts in his postseason career.

The Houston Astros are now 4-0 this postseason, and they’ve allowed just 4 runs in their last 3 games. The Astros have now won 22 of their last 24 games when allowing 3 or fewer runs. Yuli Gurriel leads the Astros with 7 hits and 2 RBI, while Jeremy Pena and Alex Bregman have combined for 12 hits and 5 RBI. Framber Valdez gets the ball, and he was 17-6 with a 2.82 ERA and 194 strikeouts this season. Valdez is 4-2 with a 4.38 ERA and 48 strikeouts in his postseason career.

The Yankees are 13-6 in their last 19 games on grass and 15-7 in their last 22 overall. The Astros are 39-12 in their last 51 Thursday games and 38-15 in their last 53 overall. The under is 6-1 in Yankees last 7 overall. The under is 6-2 in Astros last 8 overall. The Yankees are 0-4 in the last 4 meetings in Houston and 1-5 in the last 6 meetings.

These are two talented offenses that won’t be held down for long. I expect some fireworks after a struggle fest last night. Luis Severino has no postseason success in his career, and he just allowed 8 hits and 3 runs in 5.2 innings against Cleveland. Framber Valdez has been worse at home than on the road, as he has a 3.54 ERA and .240 allowed batting average. We should see some runs here. Give me the over.