Astros vs. Athletics Pick
Are the Houston Astros and Oakland Athletics going to bring the offensive fireworks Friday night at 10:05PM EST?
Oddsmakers at sports book Bovada.lv have set the Astros as a -168 favorite to win on the moneyline. The Athletics are a +144 underdog and the over-under is 9.
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Houston will give the ball to Colin McHugh (2-2, 3.25 ERA), while Oakland will counter with Jharel Cotton (7-10, 5.53). McHugh holds a 1.24 WHIP with 42 strikeouts over 44 1/3 innings. He gave up one unearned run on four hits with three strikeouts and two walks over 4 2/3 innings in a 5-1 home win over the Rangers his last start. He carries a 4.88 ERA in five road starts. Cotton has a 1.46 WHIP with 92 strikeouts in 114 innings. He most recently allowed four earned runs on seven hits with one strikeout and two walks over four innings in a 7-6 loss at Seattle.
The Astros are 86-53 and 45-22 on the road, while Oakland is 59-80 and 38-33 at home. Houston has won eight of the last 10 meetings and the total has gone under six of the last 10 games including the last four.
Houston has won seven in a row including Wednesday’s 5-3 victory to complete a sweep at the Mariners. Cameron Maybin hit a two-run homer in the top of the ninth inning to break a tie, his second late go-ahead hit in as many days. Marwin Gonzalez was 2-for-4 with two doubles, a run and two RBIs. George Springer had two hits and drove in a run. Josh Reddick was 2-for-3 with a walk and a run. Chris Devenski picked up the win in relief. The Athletics snapped an eight-game losing streak with a 3-1 home win over the Angels Wednesday Khris Davis was 3-for-3 with his 39th home run of the season plus a walk and two RBIs. Chad Pinder was 1-for-3 with a run and an RBI.
The Athletics have played better baseball at home all season and should be able to score some runs here. Cotton has struggled much of the season and regressed again his last start after some positives in the month of August. Houston has a stacked lineup to deal with and quite frankly, with the last four totals going under in this season season series it seems like a perfect time for an explosion of offense.
MLB DAILY PREDICTION: ASTROS/ATHLETICS OVER 9