All right, sports junkies – let's get straight into the heart of it. We're looking at a face-off between the Miami Marlins and the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park, a venue where you can bout your bottom dollar that the batters will be relishing their chances.

For the Marlins on the mound is Bryan Hoeing, pulling a nifty ERA of 2.09 this season, not to mention his solid 8.4 K/9. Houston counters with Framber Valdez. Not to douse him, but he's carrying a bit of extra weight with an ERA of 4.21. We'll see if he can get his act together.

Over in Miami's locker, Dane Myers, Jazz Chisholm Jr., and Jesus Sanchez have done the heavy lifting on the diamond - their combined batting average is looking grizzly. If I have to spill this out for you, dear listeners, that means Miami's batters have struggled. On the opposite dugout, our top guys at Houston are Jose Altuve, Yainer Diaz, and Yordan Alvarez, and boy, are they pumping numbers! Altuve alone's batting average is reading like a hot Wall Street stock.

The trout out of water that they are, Miami can boast of a hair-thin win against the Astros from last year. But overall, Houston's had their number in most matchups. The regular season records also tell a similar tale: Marlins are at 32-58, currently doing a fabulous impression of a deflated balloon, while the Astros are comparatively merrier at 46-44.

Look at recent appearances, the Marlins somehow string together a clutch of wins against the Chicago Cubs, while the Astros had a mixed bag, including a battering they took at Minnesota. But payback's a boomerang, friends – the Astros did bring it back by a hair's breadth in a thrilling 13-12 win against Minnesota the following day.

As your humble, unflappable, color commentator, I'll say this: If you're into safe bets, you're best off settling on the Astros for this one. I can see the Marlins making a valiant attempt, but the smart money's backing the team with the stronger pitching and hitting stats.

Albert’s Prediction: Houston Astros by 2