Closing out ESPN’s quadrant of Opening Day baseball telecasts will be the Houston Astros and Oakland A’s in the first of what’s expected to be many heated battles over the course of the regular season. Making the first of their numerous AL West matchups must-see TV is the fact that Dusty Baker’s squad bounced the A’s from the postseason in four games, and did plenty of chirping along the way so as to not let Oakland forget about it. Getting the starting nod for the visitors will be the ageless Zach Greinke who is now looked upon as the mentor for a very young up and coming starting staff. Opposing him will be Chris Bassitt who settled in as one of Bob Melvin’s more dependable starting arms during the COVID shortened season. The A’s won eight of the 14 overall matchups between these teams at online sportsbooks last season, but failed to come through when it mattered most.
First pitch for the AL West clash between the Houston Astros and Oakland A’s is scheduled for Thursday, April 1, 2021, at 10:07 p.m. ET from RingCentral Coliseum. The matchup will air live on ESPN. Bet on MLB odds at BookMaker.eu every day of the season.
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Odds Analysis
It will be fun to see how the Astros react to crowds being in the stands after not being forced to deal with them last season. With that, it will be interesting to see what their home/away splits look like in 2021. Even with nobody filling the seats a year ago, the Astros were nothing if not dreadful in the visitor’s role accruing a 9-21 overall record. The effort bankrupted bankrolls costing those idiotic enough to routinely back them upwards of $1,300! It was a much different story when playing in the comforts of Minute Maid Park 20-10, $$76. Oakland won money for baseball bettors in 2021 $251 with all the profit coming in the Coliseum where it went on to log a commanding 21-9 overall record $571. It also played to a .500 record on the road 15-15, -$320. The A’s logged a 6-3 record when hosting the Astros in 2020 with the under cashing in all but three of those matchups.
Probable Pitchers
Zach Greinke: It’s hard to believe it’s been 18 years since Greinke first appeared in the big leagues - my how time flies! The now veteran will toe the bump in the series opener looking to build off last season’s ho-hum campaign that saw him go 3-3 with a 4.03 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and .256 BAA. He was nearly a full run better at home 3.48 ERA than on the road where he failed to log a single win through six starts and pitched to an inflated 4.59 ERA and 1.20 WHIP. Through a trio of starts against the A’s, the righthander went 1-1 with a 3.71 ERA and .269 BAA over 17 innings. He’s also fared well in the Coliseum throughout his career in allowing just 62 hits 6 HR and 19 ER through 65 innings of work 4-2, 2.63 ERA.
Chris Bassitt: A year removed from racking up 141 strikeouts and issuing 47 free passes through 144 total innings, the righty followed it up with 55 Ks and only 17 walks through 63 regular season innings. Bassitt is clearly starting to understand what it takes to be a pitcher at the big league level, and he’s going to need to run with it as young Oakland’s pitching staff will be for the foreseeable future. Bassitt was nearly unhittable in the confines of the Coliseum where he allowed a grand total of 29 hits 0 HR and a measly 3 ER through 37+ innings last season. He opposed the Astros three times and conceded a total of 5 ER through 17 innings while logging a 9:6 K/BB ratio.
Astros vs. A’s Prediction
The A’s tried their damndest to defeat Houston in the playoffs last season, but simply didn’t have enough bullets in the chamber. The roster is healthy now which means Matt Chapman’s defense will be back at the hot corner where it was sorely missed in last year’s ALDS. Though both rosters suffered some attrition in the offseason, Oakland is the side that enters this tilt with much more to prove. On top of that, Bassitt has been money in the bank when toeing the Coliseum bump. I’ve got a feeling the home team goes all out to get the season started off in the win column, so go ahead and lay the small price with the A’s and also throw some beer money on the run-line to increase the payoff should it go off as I expect.
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