After a 3-1 walk-off in the Athletics’ favor on Monday night, the Houston Astros got their sweet revenge with a 13-3 drubbing of the A’s yesterday. The power bats were on full display with five home runs in that outing as Houston retook the momentum against an AL West rival.
These teams square off once more on Wednesday. Here’s an Athletics vs. Astros prediction and pick on DraftKings Sportsbook.
Athletics vs. Astros prediction, preview
Athletics
The Athletics hit the 30-win mark during this series but last night reminded everyone of who this team is. They experience decent success with their bats, but the pitching staff can’t string together consistent performances as their arms continue to hold the group in the bottom-two spots of the division.
Gio Urshela tallied a pair of hits in yesterday’s contest with an RBI while Nick Kurtz and Brent Rooker also picked up a knock. However, Lawrence Butler once again went 0-for-4 and remains hitless in the series and young star Jacob Wilson saw just one at-bat. While starter J.P. Sears allowed five earned runs and was pulled after 3.1 innings, the bullpen allowed another 10 hits and five earned runs themselves — a consistent story of the season.
Houston Astros
The Astros are now 42-31 as they protect their 4.5-game lead in the AL West. At 7-3 in their last 10 games, they’re still maintaining momentum as they look to stay ahead of the second-place Seattle Mariners.
Eight Astros tallied at least one hit last night in the offensive explosion, but rookie Cam Smith stole the show with four hits and two home runs in an impressive display of his potential. While Jose Altuve and Jeremy Pena went hitless, Isaac Paredes tallied two hits, two RBIs, and two walks just a couple of games removed from a minor hamstring injury. Christian Walker also picked up a couple of hits and a homer, as did Mauricio Dubon.
Athletics vs. Astros pick, best bet
DraftKings Sportsbook lists the Astros as strong -168 favorites to win on the Moneyline on Wednesday night. The Athletics are +138 on the Moneyline with a high run total of 9.5.
The Athletics start Luis Severino, a veteran right-hander with a 4.47 ERA, 1.30 WHIP and 61 strikeouts across 90.2 innings this season. Strangely enough, he’s far worse at home than on the road with those marks ballooning to a 7.10 ERA and 1.56 WHIP in Sacramento.
The pitching matchup appears very lopsided in Houston’s favor with lefty ace Framber Valdez starting for the Astros. With a 3.10 ERA, 1.09 WHIP and 96 punchouts in 90 innings, Valdez is shoving this season. He’s even better as of late with a 2.02 ERA and 0.94 WHIP in his last seven games.
Given the Astros’ generally-great play lately, last night’s offensive outburst, and the pitching matchup this evening, I’m doing something a bit different here and taking their alt run line of -2.5 at +142 odds. I’m very confident Valdez will hold the Athletics in check and that the Houston batters get the better of Severino early, so this feels like comfortable value.
Best bet: Alt run line HOU Astros -2.5 (+142)
Click the odds on this bet to tail!
