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• Houston Astros vs. Oakland Athletics
• Sunday, May 21 at 2:10 PM ET
• Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas
While things haven’t been perfect for the Houston Astros this season, they’re still looking like a top contender to repeat as World Series champs. Manager Dusty Baker continues to do great work with this team, there’s no doubt about that. What will be important for the Astros is to record key series wins over teams they simply should be taking care of business against. And this weekend, the Astros are favored over the Athletics in their series finale this Sunday.
It goes without saying, but the Athletics are easily the worst team in baseball. With reports continuing to swirl that the team will be headed for Las Vegas soon, their home support for the club does not exist. Time and time again, the stadium in Oakland is completely empty. Because of this, you can only imagine that only a handful of fans even bother to make the trips out for road contests.
| Astros vs. A's odds |  |  |  |  |
| Astros to win | -155 | -155 | -155 | -155 |
| A's to win | +225 | +225 | +225 | +225 |
| Over to hit | -110 | -110 | -110 | -110 |
| under to hit | -110 | -110 | -110 | -110 |
With this series being played at Minute Maid Park, the Astros are going to have the home-field advantage, with the Houston supporters making plenty of noise from start to finish throughout the series. On Sunday, we fully expect there to be a sellout crowd for this one. The Astros fans will be fired up to not only see their favorite team win, but also to see Houston do so in a convincing fashion.
According to the best-rated sportsbooks, which includes the reliable Bovada review, the Astros hold -155 MLB betting odds to take down the Athletics on Sunday. Oakland has been set at +225. From our chair, there’s absolutely no way that Oakland, 10-35 on the year, will be able to hang close with the Astros. With all of that said, we’re going with Houston as our pick to win the series finale on Sunday.
Always got us 👑 pic.twitter.com/rxNNq4D430
— Houston Astros (@astros) May 18, 2023
The over should hit between the Astros and Athletics
Thanks to Houston’s incredible lineup, the over should hit between the Astros and Athletics when they meet over the weekend. With Houston alone, they have too much talent from an offensive standpoint to keep track of. Guys like Yordan Alvarez and Alex Bregman are among the most feared hitters in the game. Unfortunately for Oakland, its staff is going to have a tough time throughout the series in trying to silence their bats.
In the series finale, the Athletics will be giving left-handed hurler Kyle Muller the start. The veteran pitcher has had a year to forget, as he’s 1-3 and holds a 7.71 ERA. That ERA is eye-opening and not for a good reason. Other clubs have had no issue at all lighting up Muller whenever he’s on the mound. With him being so inconsistent, it could be a Sunday to remember for the Houston bats.
Yordan Alvarez hit the definition of a moonshot. 😱 pic.twitter.com/5BtgIBFZ6y
— MLB (@MLB) May 13, 2023
With Bregman in particular, he got off to a bit of a cold start this spring, but he has really started to turn things around. That much was made clear after his strong series against the Chicago Cubs. We fully expect Bregman to have a strong series against the Athletics, as he’ll be ready to help the Astros put up plenty of runs. Yordan Alvarez is also one of the best home-run hitters out there.
Per the oddsmakers, the over/under has been set at 6.5 runs. Because of how bad Muller is, we could see the Astros hit the over on their own. Houston will be starting Framber Valdez, who will look to keep the Oakland bats quiet. That shouldn’t be a problem, but they could score 2-3 runs off of him. Some might be thinking the under could be a sneaky play, but we’re going with the over as our pick.
The Astros have another World Series on their minds
At this point in the season, you already know that the Astros have another World Series on their minds. Yes, it’s still early in the campaign and this team is still working things out. However, Houston won it all last year and they have the pieces in place to make it happen once again. What’s really going to help the Astros is getting back Jose Altuve, who suffered a serious injury during the World Baseball Classic.
Altuve is hoping to make his 2023 season debut soon, which will be massive for this team. Currently, the Astros hold +750 World Series betting odds. The favorites are the Dodgers at +450 and the Braves at +500. No one can argue that both Atlanta and LA have been sensational this year and they’re going to hope to keep the strong play going the rest of the way.
However, you can never forget about the Astros’ potential. Baker is among the best managers out there. As soon as Altuve returns to the diamond too, a veteran presence will return as well. Houston has plenty of haters doubting them right now, but they could be in line for another glorious campaign. We can’t wait to see how the year shapes out for the AL West giants.
