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Oakland Athletics at Houston Astros odds, picks and prediction

Skip Snow
Sportsbook Wire

The scuffling Oakland Athletics (1-7) meet the surging Houston Astros (6-1) Friday at 8:10 p.m. ET at Minute Maid Park. Let's analyze BetMGM Sportsbook's lines around the Athletics vs. Astros odds with MLB picks and predictions.

LHP Sean Manaea is the projected starting pitcher for the Athletics. A year ago, he went 4-3 with a 4.50 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 7.5 K/9 and 1.3 BB/9 in 54 IP over 11 starts. Manaea opened his 2021 campaign allowing five runs on six hits and three walks in a 9-2 loss to the Astros April 4 in Oakland. Current Houston bats own a high-contest .785 OPS against the Oakland southpaw.

RHP Lance McCullers, Jr. is the projected twirler for the Astros. McCullers returned from Tommy John surgery last summer, going 3-3 with a 3.93 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, 9.2 K/9 and 3.3 BB/9 in 55 IP over 11 starts. He beat the A's April 3, allowing one run in a five-frame effort. McCullers owns a career 2.51 ERA in 44 starts at Minute Maid.

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Athletics at Astros odds, lines, picks and prediction

MLB odds courtesy of BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports for a full list. Odds last updated at 2:18 p.m. ET.

  • Money line: Athletics +140 (bet $100 to win $140) | Astros -165 (bet $165 to win $100)
  • Against the spread/ATS: Athletics +1.5 (-135) | Astros -1.5 (+110)
  • Over/Under: 8.5 (O: -115 | U: -105)

Prediction

Astros 4, Athletics 3

Money line (ML)

Oakland took 7 of 10 from Houston in the 2020 regular season, and the A's held the Astros to just 2.5 runs per game along the way. The Astros did, however, beat the A's 3-1 in a best-of-5 AL Division Series.

Oakland starter Manaea has a decent history in logging solid bounce-back efforts after clunkers. He's also been a good road pitcher over his career. He scuffled away from home last season but that was with the caveat of pitching around a .348 batting average on balls in play. Manaea is backed by an Oakland bullpen in a slightly better rest situation than its Houston counterpart.

Take the ATHLETICS ( +140).

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Run line/Against the spread (ATS)

Consider Oakland as a run-line underdog if you can get a price closer to -125.

Over/Under (O/U)

The strongest play in this one is UNDER 8.5 ( -105). McCullers has a nice history at home, and, looking at expected-ERA metrics, one could make the case that Manaea has pitched better than his ERA just about every season of his six-year MLB career.

Back the UNDER 8.5 ( -105).

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