Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve. Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

MLB Playoff picks: Best bets for Astros vs. Rangers ALCS Game 7

It brings me immense joy to bring you the two best words in professional sports: Game 7.  The ALCS will come down to a winner-take-all Game 7 between the Houston Astros and the Texas Rangers, and we can't wait to watch the drama unfold. 

We can do more than watch on Monday night, though. Let's dive into the matchup and target some best bets for Game 7 in the ALCS. 

Astros moneyline (-125 DraftKings)

Something has to give here, right? The road team has won all six games in this series, but that finally ends on Monday night.

The Astros will be rolling with right-hander Cristian Javier, who's been lights out in his postseason career. In 16 career playoff appearances, Javier has a 2.08 ERA and 60 strikeouts. Houston is 13-3 in those games, and it rolled in Game 3 thanks to Javier giving up just two earned runs in 5.2 innings pitched. 

On the other side, the Rangers are trusting Max Scherzer to get the job done in Game 7. That's normally a wise decision, but Scherzer didn't look like himself in Game 3, which was his first start in over a month. The veteran gave up five earned runs in four innings pitched and left Texas' below-average bullpen out to dry. If this pen has to handle a similar workload in Game 7, it'll be curtains for the Rangers. 

Jose Altuve over 1.5 total bases (+125 DK)

After three straight hitless games in the middle of Houston's playoff run, Altuve has woken up in a big way. The Astros second baseman has eight hits and two home runs over his last 19 at-bats, and he hasn't struck out once in that span.

This price is so generous because Altuve is batting just .179 in 28 career ABs against Scherzer, but we're trusting the hot bat in the biggest moment of the season. 

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