The New York Yankees (67-69) and Houston Astros (77-60) play the finale of a 3-game set at Minute Maid Park Sunday. First pitch is at 7 p.m. ET (ESPN).

Season series: Yankees lead 4-2

The Yankees have taken the first 2 games of this series 5-4 Saturday and 6-2 Friday. They have won 5 of 6 to pull within 8 1/2 games of an AL Wild Card spot. It’s still highly unlikely there will be time to make it all the way back but this team is showing some fight after a rough season.

The Astros had won 5 straight before this series but are 5-5 and 10-10 over the last 10 and 20 games respectively. Houston is just 35-33 at home but 42-27 on the road which is a crazy split for a team in competition to win its division. Houston is 1 game out in the AL West.

Yankees at Astros projected starters

RHP Michael King vs. RHP Cristian Javier

King (3-5 2.96 ERA) makes his 4th start and 44th appearance. He has a 1.15 WHIP 3.1 BB/9 and 10.7 K/9 in 73 innings.

• Last start: No-decision 4 IP 0 ER 3 H 0 BB 5 K Tuesday at the Detroit Tigers
• In 3 starts this year: 0-1 2.08 ERA 8 2/3 IP 2 ER 8 H 2 BB 11 K
• 5 career relief appearances vs. Astros: 2-1 3.38 ERA 1.69 WHIP 8 K in 5 1/3 IP

Javier (0-2 4.66 ERA) makes his 26th start. He has a 1.31 WHIP 3.5 BB/9 and 8.2 K/9 in 131 1/3 innings.

• Last start: No-decision 4 IP 4 ER 6 H 6 BB 4 K Monday at the Boston Red Sox
• 3 career regular season starts vs. Yankees: 1-0 2.16 ERA 0.84 WHIP 20 K in 16 2/3 IP

Yankees at Astros odds

• Moneyline (ML): Yankees +120 (bet $100 to win $120) | Astros -145 (bet $145 to win $100)
• Run line (RL)/Against the spread (ATS): Yankees +1.5 (-165) | Astros -1.5 (+135)
• Over/Under (O/U): 8.5 (O: -110 | U: -110)

Yankees at Astros picks and predictions

Prediction

Astros 5 Yankees 4

Moneyline

The Astros are due to wake from their slumber. They scored 4 runs in the first 4 innings Saturday and then couldn’t cash in despite having RHP Luis Severino on the ropes. They need this game more than the Yankees to keep pace with the Seattle Mariners.

Take the ASTROS (-145) to avoid the sweep.

Run line/Against the spread

We’re picking New York to cover but the -165 price isn’t favorable with the amount of risk involved PASS.

Over/Under

This number dropped from 9 to 8.5 this morning which has tipped the scales. The Yankees are 4-4-2 O/U over the last 10 and Houston is 7-2-1. The Over is 4-5-1 over the last 10 in this series and 2-0-1 in the last 3 meetings. With two questionable hurlers in a nationally televised game I’ll LEAN OVER 8.5 (-110).