Houston Astros vs. Oakland Athletics: Odds, Preview, & Prediction | Friday, July 8th

Houston Astros vs. Oakland Athletics Preview: Oakland has some solid value with Blackburn on the hill

The Houston Astros and Oakland Athletics will meet tonight in an American League West showdown. The Athletics have been somewhat of an afterthought this season, but they seem to have some good value tonight. The Athletics have a 10-29 record at home this season, but have done well as an underdog in terms of covering the spread.

Tonight, there is a lot of value in one of the sides spread in the first five innings. Below, you will find a brief preview of each team followed by a prediction for the game.

Houston Astros Preview:

"7-1 homestand in the H." - Astros

The Houston Astros are coming off a series win against the Kansas City Royals. They have been led by their pitching staff and bullpen all season, with the third-best ERA in the MLB. They will give the start to Jose Urquidy tonight, and he has been pretty good so far. Although his ERA is a bit inflated at 4.14, he has gotten enough run support from his teammates to have a solid record of 7-3.

The offense has been led by Yordan Alvarez, Jose Altuve, and Michael Brantley. These guys have contributed a lot of key runs for the Astros this season, and they will be asked to do the same tonight. The Astros have seen a drop-off in offensive production compared to their previous successful campaigns. The pitching has been so good, though, it hasn't been a factor.

The key to victory for the Houston Astros is to get into the Oakland bullpen early, as they rank in the bottom 10 in the MLB. Jose Urquidy must be able to give Houston a quality start as well, but it seems he is due for a slight decline in production.

Oakland Athletics Preview:

"HOU @ OAK" - Athletics

The Oakland Athletics have really struggled in all aspects of the game this season. One of the only brightspots of the season so far has been the performance of Paul Blackburn. Blackburn is enjoying his best season in the MLB and is finding ways to be very effective. His 6-3 record has been impressive this season, considering the Oakland offense is the worst in the league.

Blackburn hasn't been getting a lot of run support, but he still produces for the Athletics. The key to victory for Oakland is to find ways to produce runs for Blackburn. If they can do this, they will have a chance to come away with an upset over the team that's ruled their division for years.

Pick/Prediction: Oakland Athletics F5 +0.5 (-110)

Paul Blackburn is more than capable of limiting runs against any offense. The key to this bet is going to be the Oakland offense. If Oakland can rough up Jose Urquidy early, then this bet will have a great chance of hitting. Let's go Athletics!