The Houston Astros face the Oakland Athletics. Our MLB odds series has our Astros Athletics prediction and pick. Find out how to watch the Astros Athletics.
The Oakland A’s continue to sink lower and lower in the MLB standings. One by one by one, the losses keep piling up. Oakland has lost eight straight games to fall to 10-42 on the season. That’s down from a .200 (.192) winning percentage, which is exceptionally bad. The A’s, at this rate, could lose nearly 130 games. It definitely seems unlikely that they will win as many as 40 games, which would make this the worst season of MLB’s 162-game era. The American League adopted the 162-game schedule (up from 154) in 1961. The National League followed in 1962. The 1962 New York Mets went 40-120. That’s the worst full-season record in the 162-game era. Oakland is on track to get worse, though there are 110 games left before the A’s do anything about it.
Here are the Astros-Athletics MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel.
MLB odds: Astros-Athletics odds
Houston Astros: -1.5 (-162)
Oakland Athletics: +1.5 (+134)
Plus: 8.5 (-114)
Bass: 8.5 (-106)
How to watch Astros vs. Athletics
TV: AT&T SportsNet Southwest (Astros) / NBC Sports California (Athletics) / MLB Extra Innings
Broadcast: ESPN+
Time: 9:40 p.m. ET/6:40 p.m. PT
*Watch Astros-Athletics LIVE on fuboTV (click for free trial)*
Why the Astros could cover the spread
The Oakland A’s are bad on a scale we haven’t seen often. Typically, even the worst teams in MLB win at least 50 games, but it seems almost certain that these A’s won’t reach 50 wins. They may have to fight their way to 40. The A’s are such an empty team due to the stingy ways of their ownership group that they clearly want to move out of town with a new stadium deal.
Houston, while it lost a few games earlier this week against the Milwaukee Brewers, has been playing much better baseball of late. The Astros are seven games over .500 with a 28-21 record. They are closing in on the Texas Rangers in the American League West. They have risen above the Los Angeles Angels to second place in the division. They are just one game away from the last AL wild-card berth in the loss column. They have José Altuve back in the lineup. They have survived a brutal start to the season and the injuries that came with it. They’re in a good place, facing a historically bad team.
Why The Athletics could cover the spread
The A’s didn’t win a game in Seattle last week against the Mariners, but they played tough games and covered the gap Thursday night by losing by just one run. The A’s don’t have elite players, but they’ve competed well. They’re not going to win many games, but there will be plenty of times when they cover the +1.5 run line. This is a game where Houston is starting Hunter Brown, a back-end pitcher, not Framber Valdez or Cristian Javier, their high-end starters. It’s a chance for Oakland’s offense to score some runs. The A’s may not win, but they could lose 5-4 and cover the running line.
Astros-Athletics final pick and prediction
The Oakland A’s are historically bad on a level that’s impossible to ignore. The Houston Astros aren’t just the defending World Series champions; they are playing well and are healthier than in April, when they had problems. This is a relatively easy call as far as betting plays go.
Astros-Athletics Final Pick & Prediction: Astros -1.5
