The Athletics make the trip to Houston to face the Astros! Both of these teams are struggling this season. The Astros are surprisingly struggling this year, while the Athletics have not been playing well, but better than expected overall. Our MLB odds series has our Athletics-Astros prediction, odds, and pick for Thursday.

The Athletics have struggled this season and have been inconsistent on their way to a 19-25 record. They have lost five of their last six games and three straight leading into this game. The Athletics have struggled behind the plate and their pitching has not been much better. JJ Bleday, Abraham Toro, Shea Langeliers, and Brent Rooker have been able to stand out on a struggling offense. On the mound, Paul Blackburn and JP Sears have been decent for the Athletics despite the staff struggling. The Athletics are not the disaster they were last season, but they have not been able to find any inconsistency and have still struggled overall.

The Astros have opened this season struggling. They have a 17-25 record and they have won five out of their last six games and have won three straight heading into this game. Despite their struggles, their offense has been nothing short of great with the second batting average as a team in the league behind only the Dodgers. Jose Altuve, Kyle Tucker, Jeremy Pena, Yainer Diaz, and Yordan Alvarez have been great for Houston behind the plate. The issue is all on the mound where they have struggled across the board. Ronel Blanco, Framber Valdez, and Justin Verlander have stood out on a struggling staff. The Astros have talent and seem like they might finally be putting it together, slowly but surely.

Here are the MLB Odds, courtesy of FanDuel. 

MLB Odds: Athletics-Astros Odds

Oakland Athletics: +1.5 (-110)

Moneyline: +188

Houston Astros: -1.5 (-110)

Moneyline: -225

Over: 8.5 (-115)

Under: 8.5 (-105)

How to Watch Athletics vs. Astros

Time: 8:10 pm ET

TV: ESPN+ / Space City Home Network / NBC Sports California

Stream: fuboTV (Click for free trial)

Why The Athletics Will Cover The Spread/Win

The Athletics are starting Joey Estes on the mound for his second start this season. After his lone start, he has a 1-0 record, a 1.80 ERA, and a 0.40 WHIP. He pitched five innings and gave up one run on two hits with zero walks and five strikeouts in a big Athletics win. Estes is getting more run this year after barely playing last year, where he struggled in two games. He is already playing better than in those two appearances. Estes had a great first game but gets a tough matchup in this spot against a red-hot Astros offense.

The offense for the Athletics has been one of the worst in the MLB this season. They are 28th in the MLB in team batting average at .222 after having a team batting average of .223 last season which was worst in the league. Abraham Toro and Brent Rooker lead the way for the team in most batting categories. Toro leads in batting average at .295, in OBP at .348, and in total hits at 43. Rooker leads the way in home runs at 10 and in RBI at 28. The Athletics have been struggling and do not have a good matchup against Cristian Javier on the mound for the Astros.

Why The Astros Will Cover The Spread/Win

The Astros are starting Cristian Javier on the mound. He has a 2-1 record, a 4.01 ERA, and a 1.42 WHIP. Javier has allowed 12 runs on 20 hits with 15 walks and 18 strikeouts through 24.2 innings up to this point in the season. In his five appearances for Houston, the Astros are 2-3. In his last start, he got shelled and pitched 1.1 innings and allowed seven runs on five hits with four walks and zero strikeouts in an Astros loss. Javier has been a bright spot for the Astros and they need him to play well after how much he struggled earlier this season.

The offense for the Astros has been one of the best in the MLB so far this season. They are second in batting average at .261 after they finished last season at .259 batting average. Jeremy Pena, Jose Altuve, and Kyle Tucker lead the Astros in almost every important batting category. Pena leads the way in the current batting average at .329. Then, Tucker leads in home runs at 13, in RBI at 29, and in OBP at .401. Altuve then leads the team in total hits at 53. At least 10 Astros have hit a minimum of one home run. This offense has had to carry them this season and that will be no different against the Athletics. Joey Estes was good in his one appearance, this season, but this is still a good matchup for the Astros offense against a young pitcher.

Final Athletics-Astros Prediction & Pick

The Astros are playing very well, are the more talented team, and have more to trust in this game, when compared to the Athletics. The Astros have the advantage at pitcher with Javier due to his experience over Estes for the Athletics. Expect the Astros to win and cover at home to extend their winning streak.

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Final Athletics-Astros Prediction & Pick: Astros -1.5 (-110)