This is a 10* on OAKLAND

The Astros gave us a gift on Opening Day as they scored five times across the final two frames to send the game Over. We had the Over, which certainly wasn’t looking good when the game was 1-0 after five innings. Today we look for the A’s to settle the score. The A’s have payback on the mind not just from last night, but for the ALDS in October when they were eliminated in a 3-1 series by the Astros. But the regular season last year really saw the A’s have Houston’s number as they took 7 of 10 head to head meetings and the three losses were all seven-inning games. Can’t see Oakland dropping two straight at home to open the season. Houston’s starter for today is Cristian Javier, who the A’s beat twice last year in the regular season. Javier’s ERA in those two starts was 7.88 Jesus Luzardo goes to the mound for the home team and we like him, especially for his 2.87 ERA against Houston in three previous regular season turns. Oakland is 44-18 off a loss. Houston is 3-13 after scoring 5 or more runs last game. PLAY ON OAKLAND

AAA