Houston Astros vs Oakland Athletics Prediction, Preview and Odds - 07/08/2022

Game Time: 9:40 pm ET, Friday, July 8, 2022

Venue:  RingCentral Coliseum, Oakland, CA

Where to Watch:  NBCS-CA

DraftKings:  Moneyline odds:  Astros -180, Athletics +155; Over/Under:  7.5 runs

Bet365:  Moneyline odds:  Astros -185, Athletics +165; Over/Under:  7.5 runs

BetMGM:  Moneyline odds:  Astros -200, Athletics +165; Over/Under:  7.5 runs

 

Houston Astros:  53-28 (1st place, AL West)

Oakland Athletics:  28-56 (5th place, AL West)

 

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Houston Astros:  8-2 last 10

Oakland Athletics:  3-7 last 10

 

 

 

 

The Astros were on an 8 game winning streak but now enter this game off of a loss. They won their last series against the Los Angeles Angels 3-0 completing the sweep in a 3-game series. They enter this game with a 53-28 record overall and have a road record of 27-16. This is the series opener of a 3-game series with the Athletics on Friday with the series finale of their series against the Kansas City Royals still to be played on Thursday. Their offense ranks 5th in the MLB with a .749 OPS. Justin Verlander is their starting pitcher on Thursday while José Urquidy is making his start in this game on Friday. He is 7-3 with a 4.15 ERA this season. His team won 4 of their last 5 games this season with him making an appearance. In his last start, he allowed 1 ER, 1 HR, and 3 BB with 8 Ks on 2 hits through 6 IP against the Los Angeles Angels. 

 

The Athletics were on a 2 game winning streak but now enter this game off of a loss. They won their last series against the Toronto Blue Jays 2-1 in a 3-game series. They enter this game with a 28-56 record overall and have a home record of 10-29. This is the 1st game of a 3-game series with the Astros on Friday and they have Thursday off as a rest day. Their offense ranks 30th in the MLB with a .603 OPS. James Kaprielian was on the mound on Wednesday while Paul Blackburn will be throwing the first pitch in this game on Friday. He is 6-3 with a 2.90 ERA this season. His team lost their last 3 straight games this season with him making an appearance. In his last start, he allowed 0 ER, 0 HRs, and 1 BB with 5 Ks on 4 hits through 6.1 IP against the Seattle Mariners. 

The current betting odds have not been listed for this game yet. The Astros finally had their long win streak snapped on Wednesday with a loss against the Royals but they have been playing great in their recent games and currently have the 2nd best record in the AL. The Athletics are on the opposite end with the worst record in the AL but they are coming off of a series win against the Blue Jays in their last one. They took advantage of a Blue Jays team that has been hurting with their bullpen and did not have a lot of spare arms to go around in that series. They are going to have an Astros team here with much better pitching and the A's, who have the worst offense in the MLB this season, will likely struggle to score on the Astros here. The Astros have also been scoring a lot of runs in their games recently and they have more wins this season on the road than they do at home. The A's have also been awful at home with only 10 wins there this season and even they have been a much better road team. The Astros will be able to sweep the A's here with the way they have been hitting recently and with their pitching all season. The best way to place a bet here is on the Astros to win this game on the runline.

 

Astros Athletics Prediction:  Our MLB Pick for Friday, July 8, 2022 (9:40 pm ET start time) is Astros 4 Athletics 2.

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Houston Astros: 53-28 (+13.4 Units) ML in all games. 27-16 (+8 Units) ML in road games. 27-13 UNDER in road games.

Oakland Athletics: 28-56 (-17.9 Units) ML in all games. 10-30 (-20.1 Units) ML in home games. 15-8 UNDER after batting .200 or worse over a 5 game span.

 

 

Houston Astros:  J. Castro (C) Out indefinitely - Knee. J. James (RP) Mid Aug - Back. M. Brantley (LF) Mid July - Shoulder.

Oakland Athletics:  J. Lowrie (2B) Out indefinitely - Shoulder. F. Montas (SP) Out Sat - Shoulder. J. Bride (SS) Late July - Shoulder.

 

 

 

"They jumped us early. They were hitting the ball out of the ballpark and the game boiled down to, they really beat us in the first and the ninth. It was a bookend game for them." - Dusty Baker after his team’s loss against the Royals on Wednesday.

 

 

"We've played well against the Blue Jays team this year. Unfortunately, we didn't get the win today to get our first sweep and to get our season series to win, but we've still got games in front of us." - Mark Kotsay after his team’s loss against the Blue Jays on Wednesday.

 

 

 

Mauricio Dubon (R) 2B

Jeremy Pena (R) SS

Yordan Alvarez (L) DH

Alex Bregman (R) 3B

Kyle Tucker (L) RF

Aledmys Diaz (R) 1B

Jake Meyers (R) CF

Chas McCormick (R) LF

Martin Maldonado (R) C

 

Tony Kemp (L) LF

Ramon Laureano (R) DH

Seth Brown (L) 1B

Stephen Piscotty (R) RF

Stephen Vogt (L) C

Elvis Andrus (R) SS

Vimael Machin (L) 3B

Skye Bolt (S) CF

Nick Allen (R) 2B

 

 

Batting Average:  Yordan Alvarez (.313)

Hits:  Yordan Alvarez (80)

Home Runs:  Yordan Alvarez (25)

RBI:  Yordan Alvarez (58)

Stolen Bases:  Kyle Tucker (14)

Wins:  Justin Verlander (10)

Saves:  Ryan Pressly (17)

ERA:  Ryne Stanek (0.63)

 

Batting Average:  Christian Bethancourt (.248)

Hits:  Sean Murphy (60)

Home Runs:  Seth Brown (10)

RBI:  Seth Brown (36)

Stolen Bases:  Ramon Laureano (8)

Wins:  Paul Blackburn (6)

Saves:  Dany Jimenez (11)

ERA:   Parker Markel (0.00)

 

Managers:

Houston Astros: Dusty Baker (3rd season)

Oakland Athletics: Mark Kotsay (1st season)