A’s vs. Astros: Picks, predictions, how to watch Friday’s game

The Oakland A’s and Houston Astros square off on Friday with first pitch set for 8:10 p.m. ET. The game takes place at Minute Maid Park in Houston, TX. and will only be available on local TV or through an MLB.tv subscription. We’ll have a rematch on the rubber as A’s lefty Cole Irvin and Astros righty Jake Odorizzi, who faced one another on July 10 in Oakland, are tonight’s scheduled starting pitchers.

The A’s (30-60) are a half-game behind the Nationals for the worst record in the major leagues. Catcher Sean Murphy is doing some damage as he is 8-for-20 with three doubles in his past five games. In that July 10 start, Irvin kept the A’s close by allowing two runs over six innings before the bullpen let the game get out of hand. Irvin was in line to beat the Astros at home on June 1 (5.2 IP, 1 run allowed) before that bullpen faltered, giving up four runs in the ninth inning in a 5-4 loss.

The Astros (58-30) have won 22 of their past 29 games. However, their short-handed offense that’s already missing Yordan Alvarez and Michael Brantley will likely be without Jose Altuve for tonight’s game after he was hit on the left knee by the first pitch of Thursday’s game. He left the game shortly thereafter. That means the Astros will lean more on Aledmys Diaz, who is batting .316 with an OPS greater than 1.000 over his past 11 games. Odorizzi, in his second start following an extended IL stint, tossed seven scoreless innings in Oakland for a victory last week.

A’s vs. Astros

Pitchers: Cole Irvin vs. Jake Odorizzi
First pitch: 8:10 p.m. ET
A’s local broadcast: NBC Sports California
Astros local broadcast: AT&T SportsNet Southwest
Live stream: MLB.tv (subscription)

Odds, picks & predictions

Run Line: Astros -1.5 (+105)
Run total: 8
Moneyline odds: Astros -200, A’s +170

Moneyline pick: Astros -200

All of those Astros injuries may make you think about taking the A’s for a split second. Don’t. With Alex Bregman, Kyle Tucker, Jeremy Pena, etc., Houston still has enough offense to get by against the lowly A’s at home, where the Astros have won 10 of their previous 11 games. This looks like a possibly low-scoring contest. If so, you have to give the advantage to the Astros, who have the best reliever ERA in baseball (2.65). Oakland’s bullpen ranks 23rd (4.30).

Player prop pick: Cole Irvin OVER 15.5 outs recorded (-125)

Irvin has notched at least 16 outs in 11 consecutive starts. He hasn’t fallen short of 15 outs in any of his 15 starts this year. A road date against Houston is obviously not an easy task, but Irvin has shown the ability to go deep into games against high-level competition. Besides that six-inning outing versus Houston last week, Irvin dealt seven innings against the Yankees and eight innings against the Blue Jays over the past few weeks.

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