The Houston Astros and the Oakland A’s square off Friday in MLB action from Oakland Coliseum. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best bets for this game. Here’s a Oakland Athletics vs Houston Astros Prediction.
Starting Pitching Matchup
The Houston Astros will send Justin Verlander to the mound here and Verlander is 2-2 with a 3.97 ERA and 26 strikeouts this season. In his last five starts against Oakland, Verlander is 2-2 with a 3.19 ERA and 43 strikeouts. Oakland will send Ross Stripling to the mound here and Stripling is 1-8 with a 5.19 ERA and 32 strikeouts this season.
Houston Astros Recap
The Houston Astros come into this one looking to rebound from a series loss to the Los Angeles Angels thanks to a 2-1 loss to the Halos in Wednesday’s series finale, snapping a series win streak over the A’s and Brewers in the last week and a half.
Astros Still Cooking At The Dish
Jose Altuve has 59 hits and a .291 batting average with 9 home runs, 18 RBIs and 10 doubles while Kyle Tucker has a team-high 17 homers with 11 doubles and 36 RBIs. Yordan Alvarez also has 9 homers with 21 RBIs while Tucker has the Astros’ team lead with 9 stolen bases so far this season. Jeremy Pena also has a team-high 63 hits as well this season.
Why the Houston Astros will win
- The Athletics have lost each of their last eight games against American League opponents.
- The Astros have won each of their last nine Friday games against AL West opponents that held a losing record.
- The Athletics have failed to cover the run line in each of their last eight games.
- The Astros have covered the run line in each of their last six road games against AL West opponents following a home loss.
- The Athletics have trailed after 3 innings in each of their last eight games against opponents that held a losing record.
- The Athletics have lost the first inning in each of their last six games.
- The Athletics have trailed after 5 innings in each of their last 11 games.
Oakland A’s Recap
The Oakland A’s come into this game looking to build off of their series win over the Colorado Rockies with a 10-9 win in extra innings in Thursday’s series finale. The series win snapped a long run of series losses to the Royals, Astros, Mariners and Rangers in the last couple of weeks.
A’s Finally Wake Up Offensively
Brent Rooker leads the A’s with 11 home runs and 32 RBIs this season while Abraham Toro has a team-high 51 hits and 19 RBIs. JJ Bleday has a team-high 14 doubles, 44 hits and 21 RBIs and Toro has a .282 batting average. Rooker also has the unfortunate title of leading strikeout bat with 53 K’s at the dish this season. Shea Langeliers has also chipped in 10 home runs and 26 RBIs.
Why the Oakland Athletics will win
- The Astros have lost four of their last five games as road favorites against American League opponents.
- The home team has won 10 of the Athletics’ last 11 games.
- The underdogs have covered the run line in each of the Athletics’ last five games at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.
- The Astros have failed to cover the run line in four of their last five games.
- The Astros have trailed after 5 innings in four of their last five games as favorites.
- The Astros have trailed after 3 innings in each of their last three games as road favorites against American League opponents.
Oakland Athletics vs Houston Astros Prediction
I’m on the Astros here. It hasn’t been the easiest thing out there to trust the Astros, and Verlander’s been shaky in some spots. But this feels like a spot where Verlander turns back the clock and stifles the A’s, who have been hit or miss against righties in the last couple of weeks during this cold run of theirs, while the Astros have been arguably the best team in baseball against righties and should have no problem getting to Ross Stripling. Stripling also gets little run support, so it feels like a perfect storm for a big time Astros win here.