MLB Game: Astros at Athletics Betting Preview & Pick

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Once again, the Oakland A’s are playing way above the level that their payroll suggests they should, and with almost two-thirds of the shortened 2020 season done, they lead the American League West by 3 ½ games despite having dropped six of their last ten games. In second place are the Houston Astros, who have also dropped six of ten. The Astros, of course, went to the World Series last year and lost in seven games to the Washington Nationals, and they were favored to run away with the AL West this year. The A’s host the Astros for a series to start off the week, with the finale on Wednesday night.

Check out our MLB betting thoughts on this game by the Bay.

MLB Betting: September 9
Houston Astros at Oakland Athletics Preview

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Why should you bet on Houston?

The Astros won 16 of their first 22 games at Minute Maid Park but have lost 13 of 18 away from home. Down the stretch, they only have six home games remaining in their last 20 games. If you’re a conspiracy theorist, then you wonder if the Astros, already caught for cheating by beating a trash can when they saw the sign for an off-speed pitch during their championship season — and suspected for putting buzzers under their jerseys to get pitch signs while at the plate, even after the other scandal — have something else brewing.

The starting rotation has been a problem for Houston, and they are continuing to have to juggle. If it weren’t for Framber Valdez (3-3, 3.61 ERA, 52 ⅓ IP) and Cristian Javier (4-1, 3.35 ERA, 37 ⅔ IP) stepping up as starters, the Astros might not even be in the postseason conversation at this point. They need to settle down and use their talent to start winning games once again. When their team expectations were lower, because they were coming out of the rebuild, they seemed more relaxed (of course, knowing what pitch was coming helped). Can they catch the A’s?

Why should you put your money on the Athletics?

Jesus Luzardo had a strong start to the 2020 regular season, but his last two outings have not been solid. In starts against a mostly punchless Texas Rangers team and the San Diego Padres, Luzardo has pitched 11 ⅓ combined innings, permitting seven earned runs on 13 hits, striking out 11 while walking two. He also got shelled on August 14, giving up six runs on nine hits, including a pair of home runs, over 3 ⅓ innings against the San Francisco Giants. He’s keeping his walks down, which means that while he’s finding the plate, he’s finding too much of it.

The A’s had most of last week off after a positive test for COVID-19. That means that the rest of the way, they will play four doubleheaders and have just two days off, so holding off Houston in this series becomes even more important. Adding Mike Minor via trade to the starting rotation will help take the burden off gassed starters like Luzardo, but Oakland would rather have a 3 ½ game lead at this point than need to catch the Astros.

Final Score and Prediction

I like how the A’s keep overperforming each year and pushing into the postseason. This year, their starting rotation was wobbly at the beginning, but they have just kept pushing hard, and no one else in the AL West seems all that interested in winning in bunches. In this game, though, I see the Astros punishing Luzardo.

I predict a final score of Houston 8, Oakland 6, which means that you should also look at the run total for this game and consider the “over.”

Houston 8, Oakland 6 | Check the Game Odds

Al West Standings

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