Astros vs. Athletics Pick
Can the Houston Astros get back to a winning streak when they face the Oakland Athletics tonight at 10:05PM ET?
According to oddsmakers at Bovada.lv, the Astros are the slight favorite on the road today, as they are getting odds of -115 to win, while the Athletics are getting a money line of -105 to win. The over/under total for the game has been set at 9 runs.
MLB Quick Links: Scores & Matchups | Injuries | Odds Comparison | Betting Trends | ATS Stats
The pitching matchup for tonight has Sonny Gray (2-2, 4.44 ERA) on the mound for Oakland to face Francis Martes (1-0, 5.19) of the Astros. Martes has appeared in two games this season, starting one of them. He has allowed five earned runs over 8.2 innings and has nine strikeouts with four walks. His WHIP is 1.27. Gray hasn’t quite been the ace for Oakland, allowing multiple runs in his last four starts. He has 53 strikeouts and 17 walks over 52.2 innings this year and he has a WHIP of 1.35.
These two opened a series on Monday and Houston picked up a 4-1 win. The Astros have won five of six meetings with Oakland this year and Houston has won nine of the last 10 between these two. Oakland is now 31-39 overall and 22-14 at home while Houston is 47-24 overall and 24-8 on the road.
Monday’s game saw Houston get some good pitching and a few timely hits. Brad Peacock lasted 5.2 innings and allowed the one run on four hits to get his fourth win of the season. The bullpen then pitched 3.1 innings of hitless ball to lock up the victory. Daniel Gossett pitched well, allowing just two runs in 6.2 innings, but he still took the loss. Houston got its four runs on three home runs as George Springer, Jake Marisnick and Derek Fisher each went long. Springer now has 20 home runs on the season.
Houston is hoping to build off Monday’s win, as the Astros haven’t been stringing wins together much in the last couple weeks. Martes may not be able to give them much on the mound, but he has a good bullpen to pick him up if he struggles. Gray has the potential to shutdown Houston, but he hasn’t shown that talent consistently in 2017. I like Houston to find some power against Gray again and edge out another win.
MLB DAILY PREDICTION: HOUSTON ASTROS -115