On Thursday, July 8, the Oakland Athletics and Houston Astros meet at Minute Maid Park in Houston, TX. The Astros earned a 4-3 win over the Athletics last night, and will be looking for three in a row here.
Will Houston complete the three-game sweep against Oakland? Keep reading our Athletics vs. Astros picks and predictions to find out.
A's vs Astros game info
• Location: Minute Maid Park, Houston, TX
• Date: Thursday, July 8, 2021
• Time: 2:10 p.m. ET
• TV: NBCSCA, ATT SportsNet-SW
A's vs Astros odds
Odds via the Covers Line, an average comprised of odds from multiple sportsbooks.
Compare MLB odds before betting to ensure you get the best number.
MLB sharp money and line movement report
By Patrick EversonAs of noon ET today, Houston is a -177 favorite at DraftKings, after opening -157 Wednesday night and peaking at -180 this morning. The Astros are attracting 67 percent of moneyline bets and 87 percent of moneyline cash. The total of 9 has seen a couple of price adjustments, from Under -118 to -120 to -114, with 53 percent of bets on the Over and 67 percent of cash on the Under.
Check out the full line movement for this gameA's vs Astros betting preview
Starting pitchers
Frankie Montas (7-7, 4.63 ERA): The Athletics have lost in each of Montas’ last three trips to the mound, but the righty has actually been rather productive in each of the last two. In starts against the San Francisco Giants and Boston Red Sox, Montas gave up a total of four earned runs over 10.2 innings of work. The righty isn’t likely to outduel McCullers in this one, but a quality start isn’t out of the equation.
Lance McCullers Jr. (6-1, 2.97 ERA): In two starts against the Athletics this season, McCullers gave Houston nearly identical outings. The righty pitched five innings and gave up one earned run in each of those games, and he has actually given up two or fewer earned runs in six of his last seven starts. McCullers has some of the best swing-and-miss stuff in baseball, giving him the potential to dominate on any given night.
Weather
Be sure to monitor the gametime conditions with our MLB weather info.
Key injuries
A's: DH Mitch Moreland (out), OF Mark Canha (out), RP Trevor Rosenthal (out)
Astros: 3B Alex Bregman (out), RP Pedro Baez (out)
Find our latest MLB injury reports.
Betting trend to know
The Athletics are 4-0 in their last four games after losing the first two games in a series. Find more MLB betting trends for A's vs. Astros.
Moneyline pick
The Athletics have won four straight after losing their first two games in a series, suggesting this is a team that just isn’t very easy to sweep. And while McCullers has been excellent against this Oakland team on the year, don’t expect him to have as much success on his third go-around.
This Athletics lineup can be extremely dangerous at times, and they will have Matt Olson going up against a righty here. Olson is batting .279 with 11 homers and 32 RBIs against right-handed pitching on the season, and he could easily go yard here. Olson has never homered against McCullers in his career, but that’s bound to change soon. Also, Elvis Andrus is 8 for 18 with three doubles, a homer and five RBIs against the righty in his career. And Matt Chapman is 4 for 13 with three doubles and three RBIs against him.
Montas isn’t the most inspiring option in the world for Oakland, but he has been rock solid against Houston this year. The righty has allowed just three earned runs in 11.0 total innings against the Astros on the season, proving that he has what it takes to give the Athletics a chance in this one. He’ll likely give up a few in this game, but he can keep them in it by limiting the damage to four or fewer runs.
PREDICTION: Athletics ML (+138)
Over/Under pick
McCullers hasn’t had much trouble with the Athletics this season, but quite a few players on this Oakland team have gotten theirs against the righty in the past. And Olson obviously profiles as the type of player that can drive in some runs against him. He does it to everybody. Also, Montas is far from an elite pitcher in this league. In fact, three of his last four starts would have gone Over this total, and he’s facing one of the best lineups in baseball. This game should be somewhat high-scoring, so strap in and enjoy the ride.
PREDICTION: Over 9.0 (-110)
A's vs. Astros betting card
- Athletics ML (+138)
- Over 9.0 (-110)
Picks made on 7/8/2021 at 12:05 a.m. ET
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