The Oakland Athletics and the Houston Astros meet Wednesday in MLB action from Minute Maid Park. Here’s a Houston Astros vs Oakland Athletics prediction. This will be the second installment in a three-game series. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Astros vs A’s pick.
Oakland Athletics Betting Preview
The A’s took on the Detroit Tigers over the weekend. Oakland won Friday’s matchup but lost the next pair 2-1 and 9-1. In the Tuesday opener versus Houston, the A’s eked out a 12-inning marathon win 4-3. Starter JP Sears finished with 6.0 clean frames, four hits, and two walks.
In the starter slot for the A’s on Wednesday, it’ll be JP Sears. So far Sears is 11-10 with a 4.34 ERA in 28 starts. Sears is 22-27 with a 4.34 ERA in 77 career games (71 starts).
Houston Astros Betting Preview
Over on the Astros’ side, they played the Arizona Diamondbacks in their last series. Houston won the first two games before a final loss of 12-6. On Tuesday the Astros notched a run in the bottom of the 12th but it wasn’t enough to come back. Spencer Arrighetti lasted 6.2 innings in the start with two earned on seven hits and a walk.
It’ll be Hunter Brown for the starter role on Wednesday. This year in his 28 games (27 starts) Brown is 11-7 with a 3.41 ERA. Over 66 career games (58 starts) Brown is 24-20 with a 4.05 ERA. The Astros will face the Angels following this series.
Total Runs Facts
- Eight of the Astros’ last nine games after going to extra innings have gone UNDER the total runs line.
- Seven of the Athletics’ last eight road games after playing the previous day have gone OVER the total runs line.
- The ‘Inning 1 OVER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the Athletics’ last six games as underdogs against AL West opponents.
- The ‘Inning 1 OVER 0.5 runs’ market has hit in each of the last three games between the Athletics and Astros.
Houston Astros Player Prop Facts
- Jose Altuve has recorded a Double in each of the Astros’ last four games.
- Jose Altuve has recorded at least one RBI in each of the Astros’ last four games.
- Jose Altuve has recorded at least one Single in each of the Astros’ last six games.
- Yordan Alvarez has recorded two or more total bases in each of the Astros’ last six games as favorites against AL West opponents.
- Jose Altuve has recorded at least one hit in each of the Astros’ last eight home games against AL opponents that held a losing record.
- Ben Gamel has scored a run in each of his last 10 appearances with his team as a home favorite.
- Ben Gamel has hit a home run in two of his last three appearances at Minute Maid Park against AL opponents that held a losing record.
- Yordan Alvarez ranks 3rd amongst qualified players for On Base Percentage (.396) this season.
Oakland Athletics Player Prop Facts
- Zack Gelof has hit a home run in three of the Athletics’ last four night games against AL West opponents that held a winning record.
- Lawrence Butler has recorded a Double in each of his last four road appearances against AL opponents.
- Zack Gelof has scored at least one run in each of his last six appearances in night games against AL West teams that held a winning record.
- Shea Langeliers has recorded at least one RBI in each of his last five road appearances against AL opponents that held a winning record.
- Lawrence Butler has recorded two or more total bases in each of his last 10 appearances in night games.
- Lawrence Butler has recorded at least one hit in each of his last 18 appearances.
- Miguel Andujar has recorded at least one Single in seven of his last eight appearances in night games against teams that held a winning record.
- Brent Rooker ranks 4th amongst qualified players for Slugging Percentage (.579) this season.
Matchup/League Facts
- The Houston Astros rank 2nd in the league for opponent batting average this season (.229).
- The Houston Astros rank 2nd in the league for hits allowed this season (1093).
- The Oakland Athletics rank 27th in the league for strikeouts against this season (1339).
- The Oakland Athletics rank 27th in the league for strikeouts this season (1141).
Houston Astros vs Oakland Athletics Prediction
I’m staying with Houston. Brown is on a nice run these days. He’s got just one earned run in 18.2 innings over his last three starts. Brown doesn’t have a decision in any of those games, though. As for Sears, he’s given up 11 earned runs over his last three starts in 16.2 innings.
On Tuesday the Astros had a pretty solid outing overall but couldn’t cash in offensively. That said, if Brown can pull off a quality outing Wednesday Houston should be in a position to win.