The Houston Astros (21-19) head to the Bay Area for the first of a 5-game series against the Oakland Athletics (23-14) on Monday. The first pitch is scheduled for 9:10 p.m. ET at the Oakland Coliseum. Below, we analyze the Astros-Athletics MLB betting odds and lines, with picks and best bets.
Astros at Athletics: Projected starting pitchers
RHP Cristian Javier vs. RHP Frankie Montas
Javier: 4-1 with a 3.35 ERA, 0.96 WHIP, 8.1 K/9 and 3.1 BB/9 in 37 ⅔ IP over 8 G (7 GS).
- Last start: Win, 2-1, with 6 ⅔ IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 3 K and 2 BB against the Texas Rangers on Sept. 2.
- Career vs. Athletics: 0-1 with a 15.00 ERA, 1.67 WHIP, 5 K and 3 BB in 5 ⅔ IP in just one career start versus Oakland. Javier made his MLB debut this season.
Montas: 2-3 with a 6.06 ERA, 1.56 WHIP, 9.1 K/9 and 5.0 BB/9 in 32 ⅔ IP over 7 GS.
- Last start: Loss, 6-3, with 3 ⅓ IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 5 K and 2 BB versus the Astros on Aug. 29.
- Career vs. Astros: 3-3 with a 4.63 ERA, 1.46 WHIP, 26 K and 14 BB in 35 IP over 8 G (6 GS).
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Astros at Athletics: Key injuries
(Get the latest injury news here.)
Astros
- 3B Alex Bregman (hamstring) questionable
- OF Josh Reddick (elbow) questionable
- 2B Jose Altuve (knee) out
- OF Yordan Alvarez (knee) out
- RP Roberto Osuna (elbow) out
Athletics
- 3B Matt Chapman (hip) questionable
- SS Marcus Semien (oblique) out
Also see: BaseballHQ Fantasy Baseball
Astros at Athletics: Odds, lines, picks and betting tips
MLB odds courtesy of BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports for a full list. Odds last updated at 1:15 p.m. ET.
Prediction
Athletics 6, Astros 1
Moneyline (ML)
The Astros (+115) dropped the first four games of their west coast road trip to the Los Angeles Angels coming into Monday. The Athletics (-129) lost their previous series, 2-1, to the red-hot San Diego Padres and have struggled of late, going 4-6 in their last 10. However, Oakland does hold a 3-2 season series lead over Houston.
Montas has been up and down all season—exemplified by his quality start to win over the Astros Aug. 8, and then the 6-3 loss to them in his last start. Javier has a 6.39 ERA and 1.50 WHIP in away games (compared to a 1.80 ERA and 0.68 WHIP at home).
Let’s say the Astros’ road losing streak goes to five and TAKE ATHLETICS (-129).
New to sports betting? A $12.90 bet on the Athletics (-129) pays a $10.00 profit if Oakland beats Houston.
Run line/Against the spread (ATS)
The Athletics -1.5 (+150) have the best run line record as a home favorite (10-7 RL), and the Astros +1.5 (-182) are 8-10 RL in road games. Oakland’s familiarity with Javier will help them score more than four runs for the first time in six games, and Montas has back-to-back quality starts when the Astros face him in Oakland.
I’d place a smaller wager on this to make sure we’d profit on an Athletics win. A $5 bet on the Athletics -1.5 (+150) returns a $7.50 profit.
Over/Under (O/U)
Each team’s lineup is better against lefties than righties. Plus we’re banking on Montas having better stuff today and the Athletics’ bullpen has the MLB’s lowest ERA. The Under is 5-2 in the last seven Astros-Athletics games and 5-0 in Oakland’s last five during game 1 of a series.
BET UNDER 9 (-110).
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