Astros vs. Athletics: Picks, predictions, how to watch Saturday’s game

The Houston Astros and Oakland Athletics square off on Saturday with first pitch set for 4:07 p.m. ET. The game takes place at RingCentral Coliseum in Oakland, CA and will only be available on local TV or through an MLB.tv subscription. Framber Valdez (8-3, 2.67 ERA) will step on the mound for the Astros while Zach Logue (2-4, 5.47 ERA) will get the nod for the Athletics.

Houston (55-28) opened this weekend series with a smooth 8-3 victory last night. Down 2-1 in the top of the fourth, Alex Bregman belted a two-run blast to give the AL West leaders their first lead of the night. Martin Maldonado launched a three-run bomb in the fifth to establish some separation and they’d tack on two more runs in the seventh for extra insurance.

Oakland (28-57) jumped out to a 2-0 lead by way of an Elvis Andrus two-run shot in the bottom of the second before seeing its advantage evaporate quickly. A Stephen Piscotty sac fly in the seventh inning put them back on the board late but they failed to get another baserunner for the rest of the contest.

Astros vs. Athletics

Pitchers: Framber Valdez vs. Zach Logue
First pitch: 4:07 p.m. ET
Astros local broadcast: AT&T SportsNet Southwest
Athletics local broadcast: NBC Sports California
Live stream: MLB.tv (subscription)

Odds, picks & predictions

Run Line: Astros -1.5 (-175), Athletics +1.5 (+150)
Run total: 8.5
Moneyline odds: Astros -315, Athletics (+260)

Moneyline pick: Astros -315

The ‘Stros moneyline is the easy choice here as they’ve won 10 of their last 11. Valdez has been a monster on the mound and it’s hard to imagine the A’s having any answers at the plate this afternoon.

Player prop pick: Yordan Alvarez over 0.5 RBI (+120)

Over the past five games, Alvarez is 6-19 at the plate with three home runs, four RBI, and eight runs total. He’ll have another opportunity to do damage against the A’s this afternoon, so expect him to pick up at least one RBI in this one.

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