This is the second tilt of a three-game battle in Oak-Town (quick Jim Rome reference) between Houston and Oakland and they are battling for first place in the AL West.
Wednesday, May 19, 9:40 PM EDT at Ring Central Coliseum
With last night’s come from behind victory, Oakland has command of first place in the AL West and will look to expand it. Houston is 6-1 and is playing their second contest of a six-game road trip. Astros batters have stung the horsehide during this streak, averaging 6.4 runs a game. Oakland returned home from a successful 4-2 road trip to Boston and Minnesota, taking each series and is home for this series before heading out to Anaheim for three at the Big A. Online betting sites like YouWager opened this game as a Pick and since the betting odds favor Houston at -115.
It’s an understatement to say there’s been an ebb and flow to Houston’s season. It’s more like flood, drought and flood again. The Astros (24-18, -0.9 units) opened at 6-1, abruptly lost nine of 10, then went on an 8-2 roll. Over a 162-game season, every team will have good and bad streaks, yet in Dusty Baker’s case with this crew, either they are scalding or like those forgotten pork chops at the back of the freezer.
In early May, Houston was a rather normal 3-4, but heated up again in assembling its latest streak.The ‘Stros are averaging 5.3 RPG, with Yuli Gurriel, Alex Bregman, Yordan Alvarez, Jose Altuve, and Michael Brantley batting .280 or higher with an on-base percentage .333 or better. And don’t look now, but Carlos Correa will be joining this hit parade very soon. Having everyone back in good health has let their ability shine.
The A’s are 26-17 (+9.1) on the season, yet their run differential is in the red at -7. This would normally suggest a record a game either side of .500. Oakland’s starting pitching ERA is run of the mill along with its bullpen ERA and with their offense at only 4.2 RPG, how is this team winning with such frequency?
The answer is their record in tight games where they are 14-4 in affairs decided by two or fewer runs. Skipper Bob Melvin’s bullpen has an 80% save conversion rate and their pensters have a 10-2 record. What this tells us is that if the Athletics have a close lead late in the game, they are making it hold up, which accounts for their record. If not and games start to get away from them and they are 12-13 and outscored by 19 total runs.
Zack Greinke (3-1, 4.18 ERA) might not be the pitcher he was five or 10 years ago, nonetheless, he’s still retiring hitters. At 37, the fastball is slowed considerably and the curve and slider lack the previous bite. These days the right-hander is strictly finesse, working the corners of the plate and mixing in big looping curves and change-ups that are so slow, they are hard for hitters to time up. Then, Greinke tosses his 91 MPH that looks 98 after the off-speed stuff. Lifetime, Greinke is 10-3 against the A’s with a 3.00 ERA in 19 starts.
Frankie Montas might be 5-2, but that’s because of run support as his ERA is 4.93. At home the righty has a supersized 6.75 ERA, however, his teammates are 4-1 in his five starts. He’s given up 46 hits in 42 innings and in today’s game, that’s actually hard to do with everyone trying to jack pitches. Montas is 5-4 with 3.97 ERA vs. the Astros.
Houston blew a 5-3 lead going into the seventh inning, conceding single runs in the 7th, 8th and 9th innings to lose. No doubt Oakland has a number of intangibles working for them including winning close games and not sure how you ignore them. With the total at 8.5, Montas and teammates are 13-2 at home when the total is 7 to 8.5. And the Athletics are 16-3 in home games after a win by two runs or less. Oakland might not be overpowering, but they do win.
MLB Pick: Athletics +105 ML at YouWager