Javier to start home opener for Houston against Oakland
Oakland Athletics (1-6) vs. Houston Astros (5-1)
Houston; Thursday, 8:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Athletics: Cole Irvin (0-1, 8.31 ERA, 1.85 WHIP, 2 strikeouts) Astros: TBD
LINE: Astros favored by 1 1/2 runs; over/under is 9 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Houston Astros host the Oakland Athletics for the 2021 home opener.
The Astros finished 19-21 against AL West Division opponents in 2020. Houston averaged 8.0 hits with 3.1 extra base hits per game and 69 total home runs last year.
The Athletics went 26-14 in division play in 2020. Oakland hit .225 as a team with 2.9 extra base hits per game and 11 total triples last year.
The teams meet for the fourth time this season. Houston leads the season series 4-0.
INJURIES: Astros: Justin Verlander: (elbow), Framber Valdez: (finger), Andre Scrubb: (shoulder), Austin Pruitt: (elbow), Josh James: (hip), Pedro Baez: (illness), Michael Brantley: (hand/wrist).
Athletics: Burch Smith: (groin), Trevor Rosenthal: (right shoulder), Reymin Guduan: (thumb), Mike Fiers: (right hip), Chad Pinder: (knee).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.