Oakland Athletics vs Houston Astros Prediction, Pick and Preview, July 26 (7/26): MLB

Oakland Athletics vs Houston Astros Prediction, Pick and Preview, July 26 (7/26): MLB

Credit: photo by Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

 

Odds

Time 9:40 p.m. EST
Athletics money line +141
Athletics run line +1.5 (-120)
Astros money line -170
Astros run line -1.5 (+100)
Over / under 7

 

Key stats

  Oakland Athletics  Houston Astros
Record 36-63 64-33
Home / road record 15-34 34-19
Last 10 record 6-4 7-3
Streak W1 L1
Over / under record 40-52-6 34-57-5
Runs / game 3.31 4.43
Runs allowed / game 4.49 3.32

 

Preview

The Houston Astros and the Oakland Athletics will play the 2nd game of the series at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum on tuesday night. The Athletics upset the Astros in the first game of the series. Tony Kemp homered and hit a two-run double, and Skye Bolt added a two-run shot as the Oakland Athletics defeated 7-5 the Houston Astros.

Oakland Athletics

The Athletics get here with a 36-63 record and have won 4 of their last 5 games. The team is averaging 3.31 runs per game. They're batting for .212 AVG, 321 runs scored in 671 hits and 74 home runs, ranking #29 in offense, the second worst in the MLB behind the Pittsburgh Pirates. Sean Murphy is batting for .245 AVG. Seth Brown leads the team with 41 RBI and 12 home runs.

Defensively are allowing 4.49 runs per game, ranking #21 in the league. Paul Blackburn leads the team with a 4.35 ERA, 82 strikeouts and 6 wins recorded with the A's.

Probable Pitcher:  Frankie Montas (3-9, 3.16 ERA)

Montas will be on the mound in the 2nd game of the series for Oakland. When questioned if Montas would make his next planned start, manager Mark Kotsay said, "Frankie should be ready to go." The right-hander was only able to throw 53 pitches against the Tigers, but if he remains clear of any strange aftereffects in the coming days, Montas could be able to manage a workload that is nearly normal when he next takes the mound on Tuesday or Wednesday against the Astros. He has a record of 7-5 with an ERA of 3.39 and 64 strikeouts in 14 appearances against the Astros in his career.

Houston Astros

The Astros get here with a 64-33 record and have won 5 of their last 6 games. They're averaging 4.43 runs and batting for .240 AVG, 421 runs scored in 755 hits and 134 home runs, ranking #14 in offense in the league behind the Texas Rangers. Yordan Alvarez leads the team batting for .307 avg with 28 home runs and 65 RBI. 

Defensively they are allowing 3.32 runs per game and ranking #2 in the league. Justin Verlander leads the pitching staff with a 1.86 ERA, 117 strikeouts and 13 wins recorded for the Astros.

Probable Pitcher:  Luis Garcia (8-5, 3.65 ERA)

Garcia will be on the mound in the 2nd game of the series for the Astros. In the second game of their doubleheader against the Yankees on Thursday, Garcia (8-5) grabbed the victory, allowing just two earned runs over five innings while striking out six. He has a 1-0 record and holding a 1.80 ERA in his last 3 starts against the Astros.

BETTING TRENDS

Houston Astros are 9-3 SU in their last 12 games on the road.

The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Houston's last 8 games when playing on the road against Oakland.

The total has gone UNDER in 8 of Oakland's last 12 games at home.

The total has gone UNDER in 6 of Oakland's last 8 games when playing at home against Houston.

Prediction

The Athletics ended the Astros winning streak as they beat them 7-5 in the first game of the series. For this game the A's will send Frankie Montas to the mound who has been really good this season and has dominated the Astros in their last 3 meetings allowing only 4 runs across 20.2 innings pitched. The Astros are sending Luis Garcia to start this game who has also doing a great job this season and is holding a 1.80 ERA against the A's. I expect another close but this time the total should stay under the total.

PICK: Under 7 (-110)

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