The best and worst teams in the AL West will square off on the diamond as the Oakland Athletics travel to the Lone Star State to take on the Houston Astros. Join us for our MLB odds series where our Athletics-Astros prediction and pick will be revealed.

There's no sugar coating it; the Athletics are not a good baseball team and are eager to turn the page to next year. As it stands, Oakland is one loss away from hitting the 100-loss mark at 44-99, but are at least 5-4 in their last nine games. All in all, the A's will send out Mason Miller who is 0-2 with a 3.09 ERA in four starts on the year.

On the other side of things, the defending World Series champs in the Houston Astros have won five of their last six games and are for the meantime sitting in first place in the AL West with a 2.5 game lead. Overall, this is a club that has the makings to win their third World Series and are seeking a strong finish to the season en route to that achievement. On the mound in this one for Houston will be lefty Framer Valdez who is 11-9 with a 3.30 ERA in 2023.

Here are the Athletics-Astros MLB odds, courtesy of FanDuel. 

MLB Odds: Athletics-Astros Odds

Oakland Athletics: +1.5 (-118)

Houston Astros: -1.5 (-142)

Over: 8.5 (-105)

Under: 8.5 (-115)

How To Watch Athletics vs. Astros

TV: AT&T SportsNet Southwest

Stream: MLB.TV

Time: 8:10 ET/5:10PT

*Watch MLB games LIVE with fuboTV (click for a free trial)*

Why The Athletics Could Cover The Spread

Playing for pride with less than a month remaining in the regular season, very few individuals are giving the Athletics that much of a chance in this divisional showdown, and for good reason. The A's have only defeated the Astros one time this season back on July 22nd when they downed Houston by a score of 4-1. Still, there is a recipe for success if Oakland wants to begin this three-game set on the right foot.

For starters, it will prove to be an absolute must for the A's to score at least five runs. In their last two losses, Oakland has scored only six runs combined which is simply not good enough to win consistently at the major league level. Prior to that, the A's were able to be victorious in back-to-back outings by crossing the plate with five runs in a win against the Blue Jays and five runs in a victory over the Rangers. On paper, this offense has struggled mightily all year long, so staying patient in their at-bats by forcing walks and creating havoc on the base-paths will be key.

Overall, be on the lookout for the Athletics' lone All-Star in left-fielder Brent Rooker to continue to pave the way offensively with his 23 home runs and 57 home runs in 2023.  He has managed to record a hit in three of his last four games, so there is no question that Rooker can make some noise at the plate this Monday evening.

Why The Astros Could Cover The Spread

Entering this one as -1.5 run favorites, the key to the Astros covering and improving upon their 74-70 record against the spread will be to continue to absolutely explode on offense. In losing only once in their last six games, it has been the Houston bats that have come alive and strike fear into opposing pitching. All together, the Astros have incredibly scored double-digit run totals in four of their past six games which is almost a near automatic guarantee to put a victory in the win column.

More specifically, outfielder Kyle Tucker is one of the main reasons that Houston's offense is clicking on all cylinders after recording an unthinkable two triples in the SAME inning. In fact, he was the 12th player in MLB history to accomplish that feat.

Above all else, the Astros have to eliminate any hope of winning that the Athletics may grab with runs in the early frames of this one. For the most part, the ‘Stros have done a good job in pouncing on their prey early in games but grabbing the lead. Worst case, the Astros trail early in this one and will be attempting to dig themselves out of a hole which isn't ideal.

Instead, southpaw Framer Valdez should be on his A game with two runs or fewer given up in his last three starts combined and the offense needs to be opportunistic early in order to cover the spread as favorites.

Final Athletics-Astros Prediction & Pick

It will truly be an uphill climb for the Athletics in this one, so don't overthink it. Hammer the Astros to cover the spread and win this one in a big way.

Final Athletics-Astros Prediction & Pick: Astros -1.5 (-142)