The Oakland Athletics and the Houston Astros meet Friday in MLB action from Minute Maid Park. Oakland is coming off a series versus the Mariners this week. The A’s ended up losing all three of those games. As for the Astros, they played the Rays in their last set. Houston split the first pair, then in the Thursday rubber match the Astros eked out a one-run win. Check back all season long for free MLB picks at Sports Chat Place.
Oakland had a lot of trouble with the Mariners this week, losing all three games 13-4 Monday, 4-2 Tuesday and 4-2 Wednesday. In the game three loss, A’s starter Frankie Montas put up 6.0 clean innings with one walk, four hits and seven strikeouts.
For the starter job in the Friday game the A’s are sending out Sean Manaea. Across his 173.2 innings this year Manaea has 172 hits, 77 runs (76 earned), 25 homers, 40 walks, 188 Ks and a 3.94 ERA.
Over on the Astros’ side, they beat the Rays 4-3 in Tuesday’s opener, then fell 7-0 in a shutout on Wednesday. In the Thursday finale Houston scored all their runs in the fourth inning during a 3-2 sin. Starter Lance McCullers put up 6.0 innings with two earned on three hits and a walk.
The Astros will go with Framber Valdez in the start on Friday. The lefty Valdez has an 11-5 record this year with a 2.98 ERA and 118 Ks.
The A’s are 38-17 in their last 55 Friday games and 3-7 in their last 10 overall. Oakland is also 7-19 in their last 26 road games versus a team with a winning record.
Meanwhile, the Astros are 93-37 in their last 130 in game one of a series and 46-20 in their last 66 Friday games. Houston is 149-73 in their last 222 home games as well.
PICK: I’m going to try the A’s. Manaea needs a good start here, though. He’s coming off 7.0 innings with one earned on three hits and a walk in his last outing (versus the Astros). That said, Manaea had a couple of sketchy starts before that, with a combined nine earned on 17 hits and two walks in 10.0 innings. If Manaea can keep it going, Oakland has a decent shot in this one.