Oakland Athletics vs Houston Astros Prediction, Preview and Odds - 10/03/2021

Game Time: 3:10 pm ET, Sunday, October 3, 2021

Venue:  Minute Maid Park, Houston, TX

Where to Watch:  Sportsnet SW

DraftKings:  Moneyline odds:  Athletics +155, Astros -180; Over/Under:  9.5 runs

Bet365:  Moneyline odds:  NL; Over/Under NL runs

BetMGM:  Moneyline odds:  NL; Over/Under NL runs

 

Oakland Athletics:  86-74 (3rd place, AL West)

Houston Astros:  93-67 (1st place, AL West)

 

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Oakland Athletics:  4-6 last 10

Houston Astros:  4-6 last 10

 

 

 

The A's are coming into this game after winning the series opener against the Astros on Friday night. That win snapped a 3 game losing streak that they were on after getting swept by the Seattle Mariners. That was their 4th straight win over the Astros in the last week. This will be the series finale of this three-game series between the A's and the Astros with their 2nd game on Saturday still to be played, that result is pending. Paul Blackburn will be the starter for their game on Saturday while Cole Irvin will be throwing the first pitch in this game on Sunday. He is 10-15 with a 4.18 ERA this season. He has been credited with 2 straight losses but his team has lost 4 of their last 5 games with him on the bump. In his last start, he allowed 5 ER and 3 BB with 4 strikeouts on 6 hits through just 3 innings of work against the Mariners last Monday. He has seen the Astros lineup 3 times this season and he is 0-3 against them as he allowed more than 4 runs in each of those games. Their offense has scored 16 runs in their last 4 games averaging 4 runs scored per game in that span and they have allowed their opponents to score 27 runs against them in that same span allowing just under 7 runs per game.

 

The Hou Astros are coming into this last game of the regular season on their schedule after losing their series opener to the A's on Friday night. With that loss, they have now lost 2 of their last 3 and 6 of their last 8 games. This will be the series finale of their three-game series against the A's. Their 2nd game of this series on Saturday is still to be played with that result pending. Jake Odorizzi was given the nod for their game on Saturday while Jose Urquidy will be the projected starting pitcher on the mound in this game on Sunday. He is 8-3 with a 3.56 ERA this season. He has been credited with 4 straight wins and his team has won 7 of their last 9 games with him as the starter. In his last start, he allowed 2 ER, 1 being a HR, and 1 BB with 6 Ks on 4 hits through 5 IP against the Tampa Bay Rays last Tuesday night. He has seen the A's lineup twice this season, both times back in April and he is 0-1 against them with 1 no-decision but his team is 0-2 in those games as he allowed 6 runs total between the 2 games. Their offense has scored 13 runs in their last 4 games with an avg of a little over 3 runs scored per game in that span and they have allowed their opponents to score 20 runs against them in that same span allowing 5 runs per game. 

The Astros have been playing well in their recent games except for when they play the A's They have lost 4 straight to them after getting swept last week by them and then dropping the series opener here. Cole Irvin has not had any success against the Astros this year as they have destroyed him on the mound in their games against him so they might be catching a break here. Both teams are scoring a lot of runs recently and with the pitching matchup in this game, the best bet for bettors to make here is on the over as it should be a high scoring game.

 

Athletics Astros Prediction:  Our MLB Pick for Sunday, October 3, 2021 (3:10 pm ET start time) is Astros 10 Athletics 6.

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Oakland Athletics: Will be posted soon.

Houston Astros: Will be posted soon.

 

 

Oakland Athletics:  V. Machin (2B) out for season - Stomach injury. E. Andrus (SS) Out indefinitely - Leg injury. J. Lowrie (2B) Out indefinitely - Hand injury. M. Fiers (SP) out for season - Elbow injury.

Houston Astros:  J. Siri (CF) Ques Sat - Hand injury. Z. Greinke (SP) Early Oct - Neck injury. P. Baez (RP) Early Oct - Shoulder injury. R. Montero (RP)out for season - Shoulder injury.

 

 

Oakland Athletics: Matt Olson is one player to watch in this matchup. He leads his team in hits, homers, and in RBI. He had a few in their win on Friday and he plans on still fighting to win every game as long as he is out on the field so look for him to finish the season strong in this series.

 

Houston Astros: Yordan Alvarez is one player to watch in this contest. He leads his team in homers and in RBI. He will need to start heating with the playoffs right around the corner so look for him to get hot in this final game.

 

 

"We wanted to win today. We had an opportunity to win today. … That's something we want to do. That's the next goal in the next few games is to hopefully get both of those Ws." - Jake Meyers on their loss to the A’s on Friday.

 

"We still have games to play. When we're out there, we're going to compete. That's what we do. It's all we know really. To push those runs across, we got a couple big hits. A pretty solid win against a good team." - Matt Olson after their win against the Astros on Friday despite being out of the playoffs.

 

 

 

J. Harrison 3B

S. Marte CF

M. Olson 1B

C. Pinder RF

M. Canha LF

Y. Gomes C

K. Davis DH

T. Kemp 2B

P. Kozma SS

 

J. Siri RF

A. Diaz 1B

A. Bregman 3B

Y. Alvarez LF

C. Correa SS

M. Gonzalez 2B

C. McCormick DH

J. Meyers CF

J. Castro C

 

Batting Average:  S. Marte (.307)

Hits:  M. Olson (151)

Home Runs:  M. Olson (39)

RBI:  M. Olson (111)

Stolen Bases:  S. Marte (47)

Wins:  F. Montas (13)

Saves:  L. Trivino (22)

ERA:  A. Chafin (1.83)

 

Batting Average:  Y. Gurriel (.316)

Hits:  Y. Gurriel (166)

Home Runs:  Y. Alvarez (32)

RBI:  Y. Alvarez (101)

Stolen Bases:  K. Tucker (14)

Wins:  L. McCullers Jr. (13)

Saves:  R. Pressly (26)

ERA:  K. Graveman (1.64)

 

Managers:

Oakland Athletics: Bob Melvin (11th season)

Houston Astros: Dusty Baker (2nd season)

 

86 degrees F mostly cloudy, 72% humidity, 20% chance of rain, up to 5 mph wind speeds S.