The MLB betting board for Friday has yet another matchup between the Oakland A's and Houston Astros, who are meeting up for the sixth time through the first nine days of the 2021 season.
The Astros have destroyed the A's in each of the previous five contests, including a 6-2 win at Minute Maid Park last night.
Here are our best free picks and predictions for the A's vs. Astros on Friday, April 9, with the first pitch scheduled for at 8:10 p.m. ET.
A's vs Astros odds
Odds via the Covers Line, an average comprised of odds from multiple sportsbooks.
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MLB sharp money and line movement report
By Patrick EversonHouston went up as a -170 favorite Thursday afternoon at PointsBet USA, peaked at -190, returned to -170 and is at -185 as of 5:45 p.m. ET. The Astros are taking 84 percent of moneyline bets and 88 percent of moneyline dollars. The total opened at 9 (Over -115), made a couple of trips to 8.5 and is now 9 (Under -120), with 57 percent of bets on the Over and 52 percent of money on the Under.
Check out the full line movement for this gameA's vs Astros betting preview
Starting pitchers
Sean Manaea (0-1, 9.64 ERA): Manaea had a brutal start against the Astros on Sunday, giving up five runs and throwing 101 pitches before getting the hook midway through the fourth inning.
The lefty posted a 5.28 ERA during spring training and had a shaky 2020 campaign where he pitched to a 4.50 ERA with a WHIP of 1.20 through 11 starts.
Lance McCullers Jr. (1-0, 1.80 ERA): McCullers looked shaky in the first inning of his season debut on Saturday. But he settled down and picked up the win, allowing one run on two hits while fanning seven batters in five innings.
The 27-year-old has pitched to a 3.88 ERA with a 1.17 WHIP in 33 starts over the last two years and has added a slider to his repertoire for 2021.
Weather
Be sure to monitor the gametime conditions with our MLB weather info.
Key injuries
A's: Trevor Rosenthal RP (Out), Chad Pinder 2B (Out).
Astros: Josh James RP (Out), Andre Scrubb RP (Out).
Find our latest MLB injury reports.
Betting trend to know
The Astros are 61-25 in their last 86 home games. Find more MLB betting trends for A's vs. Astros.
Moneyline pick
The rest of the world might not like it, but one year after the Astros' sign-stealing scandal was exposed, they are looking like contenders once again. The Astros are 6-1 this season, with five of those wins coming against the A's.
They swept their four-game set in Oakland to start the season, outscoring the A's by a total of 35-9, before cruising to victory last night.
Given how badly the A's have been dominated this season, it's little surprise they rank near the bottom of the majors in both batting average (.170) and runs per game (2.38). Meanwhile, the Astros have been mashing, hitting .289 and ranking second in the bigs in scoring with 7.4 runs per game.
Lance McCullers Jr. will toe the mound for Houston today after pitching a gem against the A's last Saturday. Oakland will give the nod to lefty Sean Manaea, who was lit up with a pair of homers on Sunday. It's also worth noting that the Astros' lineup has a recent history of hitting the ball very well against southpaws.
It's inevitable that at some point this season the A's are going to avoid getting crushed by the 'Stros, but we're not playing the guessing game to find out when the stars will align. We're simply going to keep backing Houston on the runline in this matchup until we see something (really, anything from Oakland) that would suggest the opposite.
PREDICTION: Runline Houston (+115)
Over/Under pick
Considering how awful the A's have looked at the plate this season, it might be tough to take the Over but the A's pitching has been equally awful and the 'Stros have a deadly lineup.
Houston hitters like Yordan Alvarez, Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, Michael Brantley, Yuli Gurriel, and Carlos Correa have all gotten off to terrific starts this season.
Although McCullers looked great in his first start of the year, he had a solid but not sensational 3.93 ERA with a 1.16 WHIP over 11 starts last year. He might not be able to mow down the A's with the same level of success he had on the weekend. Oakland sluggers Matt Chapman and Matt Olson are still waiting for a breakout game, which should surely come at some point, given their track record over the last few years.
While last night's game went Under the total with eight runs scored, each of the previous six meetings between these AL West rivals has cashed the Over. With a warm, humid day in Houston with a 12 mph wind blowing out towards center field, back the Over again.
PREDICTION: Over 8.5 (-110)
A's vs Astros betting card
- Runline Houston (+115)
- Over 8.5 (-110)
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