Athletics vs. Astros Pick
After a surprising slip up on Tuesday, will the Houston Astros bounce back tonight against the Oakland Athletics at 8:10PM ET?
According to oddsmakers at Bovada.lv, the Astros are a big favorite at home, as they are getting odds of -185 to win. The Athletics are listed with odds of +170 to prevail, while the over/under total for the game is set at 10 runs.
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Tonight’s pitching matchup has Jesse Hahn (3-5, 4.66 ERA) on the mound for Oakland to face David Paulino (2-0, 5.04) of the Astros. Paulino has allowed 14 earned runs in his five starts. He has 26 strikeouts with seven walks and a 1.44 WHIP. Hahn is coming off a very rough start, where he allowed 10 runs to the Astros last week over just two innings. On the year, he has 54 strikeouts with 27 walks and a 1.42 WHIP.
Oakland managed a 6-4 win over Houston last night in the series opener. That snapped a five-game losing streak to the Astros. Houston is now 52-26 overall and 23-17 at home. Oakland is 35-42 overall and 13-25 on the road.
The Athletics controlled the whole game, as Houston had to score three runs in the ninth to make it look close. Sean Manaea got the win to move to 7-4 on the season. He allowed just one run in 5.2 innings. Mike Fiers had his worst outing in some time, allowing four runs over 5.2 innings. Ryon Healy led Oakland with a grand slam, his 18th home run of the season. Bruce Maxwell added three hits for the Athletics. George Springer had his 23rd home run of the season and drove in three runs for 50 RBI to lead Houston.
The Astros have been playing well until Monday. Surprisingly the Astros have been somewhat shaky at home this season. Today they play an Oakland team that is on a little bit of a winning streak. Hahn is coming off a really poor outing that raised his ERA by a full run. Granted, it was against Houston, but it wasn’t characteristic of what he has done most of the season. I think he gets back to form tonight and gives Houston problems while Paulino struggles against this powerful Oakland order.
MLB DAILY PREDICTION: OAKLAND ATHLETICS +170