After finally having something go their way, the Oakland Athletics look to put a dismal Sportsbook homestand behind them as they visit the Houston Astros on Thursday night. The Athletics (1-6) earned their first win of the season in the last game of their homestand, but they are big-time underdogs against an Astros team (5-1) that is rolling into its home opener.
Sportsbook Odds Analysis
The Astros opened as -160 favorites, but that’s now the high end of the odds range, with -150s or even the odd -145 available. The total has held steady at 9.5.
Starting Pitchers Analysis
Athletics left-hander Cole Irvin (0-1, 8.31 ERA) would love to exact a little revenge after getting torched in his season-Sportsbook outing against the Astros. He was tagged for four runs on seven hits in 4.1 bumpy innings en route to a 9-1 defeat. It was a fitting Oakland debut for the 27-year-old, who owns an unsightly 6.89 ERA for his career.
Astros counterpart Cristian Javier (0-0, 4.91 ERA) will also be looking to put together a stronger outing than the one he had against the Athletics six days ago. The hard-throwing 24-year-old lasted just 3.2 innings in his first start of 2021, charged with two runs on three hits. He averages a strikeout per inning for his career but has allowed 11 home runs in 58 innings.
Oakland News & Notes
It hasn’t taken long for the Athletics to dig themselves the kind of hole that has them behind the playoff 8-ball already: Per ESPN’s David Schoenfeld, only three teams have ever reached the postseason after Sportsbook the season with six straight losses. And the A’s didn’t just string together a bunch of losses – they weren’t competitive at all, getting outscored 50-13 prior to Wednesday’s win.
Now for the good news: The current members of the Oakland roster have combined for three home runs and an .864 OPS in 35 all-time at-bats vs Javier. And while there isn’t much of a sample to pull from, you can look to either of the Matts for daily fantasy production, as both Matt Olson and Matt Chapman have gone deep against Javier.
Houston News & Notes
The Astros used their dominance over Oakland the first time these teams met to propel themselves to the top of the AL West standings, and splitting a two-game set with the Angels has kept them there. The Houston offense is absolutely crushing opposing pitching at the moment, with the team averaging 7.5 runs with a .295/.371/.523 slash line through six games.
Now, the Astros kick off their home schedule at a stadium where they hit just .239 last season, the 19th-best home batting average in the majors. Most of Houston’s hitters are decent daily fantasy options in Thursday’s series opener; Alex Bregman is the top option for cash games given his .478 OBP, while Kyle Tucker (three HRs, nine RBIs) is certainly worth the investment in tournaments.
Betting Pick: Astros -1.5 (+120)
There remains an enormous gulf in playing level between these teams – and until the Athletics close that gap, the Astros are a terrific option on the runline.
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