At Minute Maid Park on Thursday, the Oakland Athletics play the Houston Astros (three straight losses) at 2:10 p.m. ET.
The Astros are favored (-236 moneyline odds to win) when they host the Athletics (+193). The starting pitchers are Framber Valdez (14-6) for the Houston Astros, and Mitch Spence (7-9) for the Oakland Athletics.
Yesterday, the Athletics claimed a 5-4 victory over the Astros, with Joey Estes (6.2 IP, 2 R, 7 H, 2 K) earning the win for the Athletics. Max Schuemann finished 2-for-3 with a double to lead the offensive showing. Hunter Brown (5.0 IP, 5 R, 9 H, 7 K) was credited with the loss for the Astros.
Before the Astros vs. Athletics matchup, here is everything you need to prepare for Thursday’s baseball action, including viewing options.
Houston Astros vs. Oakland Athletics odds and betting lines
MLB odds courtesy of BetMGM Sportsbook. Odds updated Thursday at 9:16 a.m. ET. For a full list of Sports betting odds, access USA TODAY Sports Betting Scores Odds Hub.
- Favorite: Astros (-236, bet $236 to win $100)
- Underdog: Athletics (+193, bet $100 to win $193)
- Over/under: 8.5
Astros vs. Athletics: Live streaming info & game time
- Game Day: Thursday, September 12, 2024
- Game Time: 2:10 p.m. ET
- Stadium: Minute Maid Park
- TV Channel: Space City Home Network
- Live Stream: Fubo (Watch for free)
Astros stats and trends
Astros betting records
- This season, the Astros have won 59 out of the 107 games, or 55.1%, in which they’ve been favored.
- Houston has a record of 6-2 when favored by -236 or more by sportsbooks this season.
- The implied probability of a win from the Astros, based on the moneyline, is 70.2%.
- Houston’s games have gone over the total in 59 of its 145 chances.
- In 144 games with a spread this season, the Astros are 70-74-0 ATS.
Framber Valdez (Astros probable starter)
- The Astros are sending Valdez (14-6) to the mound to make his 26th start of the season. He is 14-6 with a 2.97 ERA and 153 strikeouts in 157 1/3 innings pitched.
- In his most recent appearance on Saturday against the Arizona Diamondbacks, the lefty tossed seven scoreless innings while surrendering two hits.
- The 30-year-old has amassed an ERA of 2.97, with 8.8 strikeouts per nine innings, in 25 games this season. Opponents are batting .218 against him.
- Valdez is aiming to claim his third straight quality start in this outing.
- Valdez will try to pitch five or more innings for his 12th straight appearance. He’s averaging 6.3 innings per outing.
- He is trying to keep a streak of two games without surrendering an earned run alive.
- He meets an Athletics offense that ranks 26th in the league with 593 runs while batting .234 as a squad. It has a collective .398 slugging percentage (14th in MLB play) and has hit a total of 184 home runs (sixth in MLB).
- Head-to-head against the Athletics this season, Valdez has thrown seven innings without giving up an earned run on two hits, while striking out eight.
- Among qualifying pitchers in MLB action this season, the 30-year-old’s 2.97 ERA ranks sixth, 1.093 WHIP ranks 14th, and 8.8 K/9 ranks 25th.
Astros batting stats
- The Astros rank 11th in Major League Baseball with 170 home runs.
- Hitters for Houston rank eighth in the majors with a combined .417 team slugging percentage.
- The Astros have a team batting average of .261 this season, which ranks third among MLB teams.
- Houston has scored the 12th-most runs in the majors this season with 668 (4.6 per game).
- The Astros have an on-base percentage of .320 this season, which ranks eighth in the league.
- Houston ranks third in MLB in strikeouts per game with an average of 7.3 whiffs per contest.
Athletics stats and trends
Athletics betting records
- The Athletics have come away with 52 wins in the 129 contests they have been listed as the underdogs in this season.
- Oakland has a win-loss record of 6-6 when favored by +193 or worse by sportsbooks this year.
- The moneyline set for this matchup implies the Athletics have a 34.1% chance of walking away with the win.
- Contests with Oakland has gone over the total set by oddsmakers in 68 of 146 chances this season.
- The Athletics are 80-66-0 against the spread in their 146 games that had a posted line this season.
Mitch Spence (Athletics probable starter)
- Spence (7-9) takes the mound first for the Athletics in his 21st start of the season. He’s put together a 4.42 ERA in 130 1/3 innings pitched, with 111 strikeouts.
- In his most recent time out on Saturday against the Detroit Tigers, the right-hander tossed 4 1/3 innings, allowing one earned run while surrendering eight hits.
- In 31 games this season, the 26-year-old has put up a 4.42 ERA and 7.7 strikeouts per nine innings, while allowing a batting average of .269 to his opponents.
- Spence heads into the matchup with three quality starts under his belt this year.
- Spence has pitched five or more innings in a game 15 times this year heading into this game.
- He has made six appearances this season in which he did not surrender an earned run.
- He will face off against an Astros offense that ranks third in the league with 1299 total hits (on a .261 batting average). The team also slugs a collective .417 (eighth in the league) with 170 total home runs (11th in MLB action).
- Spence has thrown 2/3 of an inning, giving up two earned runs on two hits while striking out one against the Astros this season.
Athletics batting stats
- The Athletics are sixth in MLB action with 184 home runs. They average 1.3 per game.
- This season, Oakland’s .398 slugging percentage is 14th in the majors.
- The Athletics rank 25th in the majors with a .234 batting average.
- Oakland scores the fifth-fewest runs in baseball (593 total, 4.1 per game).
- The Athletics rank 24th in MLB with an on-base percentage of .303.
