All eyes will be on Oakland Alameda County Coliseum this weekend as the Oakland A’s try to catch the Houston Astros in the American League West standings. The Athletics are on a run that their fans haven’t seen since the 2002 Moneyball season. Oakland opens as the underdog tonight and trails the season series 9-4. The Astros have won all six meetings between the teams in Oakland, but the A’s took three of four from the Astros at Minute Maid Park in July.
- The Astros are 9-3 SU in their last 12 games against the Athletics.
- Oakland is 11-2 SU in its last 13 games at home.
- The total has gone OVER in six of the Astros’ last seven games against the Athletics with an average combined score of 10.4.
Astros vs Athletics Matchup Page
Two Pitchers at the Top of Their Games
If you like pitchers’ duels, make sure to tune in to this game. Charlie Morton (12-3, 2.88 ERA, 1.15 WHIP) makes his 24th start of the season for the Astros. Morton suffered just his third loss of the season last time out vs the Mariners, tossing six innings and allowing three earned runs. The 34-year-old from Flemington, New Jersey has been Mr. Reliable for Houston, pitching at least six innings in 17 of his 23 starts. He’s made just one start against Oakland this year, a 6-4 loss where he was knocked out of the game in the fifth inning after six hits and 104 pitches.
Edwin Jackson (4-2, 2.48 ERA, 1.03 WHIP) hasn’t allowed an earned run in 19.1 innings, a stretch of three starts. At 34 years old, Jackson is working on the best season of his 16-year career. The A’s have won seven of his nine starts since he joined the roster on June 25.
Astros Finally Broke out on Wednesday
The big question coming into tonight’s game is have the Astros shrugged the monkey off their back or was Wednesday’s offensive explosion vs Colorado an anomaly? Houston finds itself in an unfamiliar position after the all-star break, in the bottom third of the league in offensive statistics, hitting .224/.303/.401.
A series against Oakland may be just what the doctor ordered for the Astros, though, as they have been wildly successful against the second-place A’s this year. Through 13 games, Houston has 22 home runs and a slash line of .287/.351/.491 for a .843 OPS against the green and gold.
Early Action is on the UNDER
Our OddsShark consensus data shows a majority of bettors laying bets on UNDER the Sportsbook total of 8.0 in this game. Our Super Computer is also predicting the UNDER to hit.
Seven of Charlie Morton’s last nine starts have hit the UNDER with an average combined score of 6.33 while the UNDER has hit in four of Edwin Jackson’s last five starts with an average combined score of 7.2. The total has gone UNDER in seven of Houston’s last nine games with an average combined score of 6.0 and the total has also gone UNDER in nine of Oakland’s last 11 games with an average combined score of 6.36.
