Oakland Athletics vs Houston Astros Prediction: Astros have it here

On Friday, Major League Baseball action will be broadcast from O.co Coliseum, featuring a matchup between the Houston Astros and the Oakland Athletics. The game between the Astros and the Rockies has just come to an end. After suffering a heartbreaking defeat on Tuesday, Houston managed to even the series with a victory by a larger margin on Thursday. As for Oakland, they played the Red Sox this week and split their first two games against them. The A's were able to scrape out a victory in the game that was played on Thursday.

Ryan Noda and JJ Bleday each hit home runs to lead the Oakland Athletics to a 3-0 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday. On Monday, the Athletics suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the Red Sox, falling by a score of 7-0. Bleday led the A's to victory in the Wednesday rubber match by collecting two hits, driving in two runs, and hitting a home run. The final score was 6-5. In the end, Jace Peterson had a home run that scored two runs, and he also scored twice. Hogan Harris will take the field for the Oakland Athletics on Friday as the starting pitcher. In his first season in Major League Baseball, Harris has a record of 2-3 with a 6.51 earned run average over 10 games (four starts) and 40 strikeouts over 47.0 innings pitched.

Despite Alex Bregman going 2-for-3 at the plate and aiding the Houston Astros in winning the series against the Angels this past weekend, Colorado defeated the Astros on Tuesday by a score of 4-3. In the game that took place on Wednesday, Houston was victorious by a score of 4-1 thanks to Chas McCormick's two hits, one home run, and two RBI. Jake Meyers had a successful game, going two for four with a run scored as well. JP France will take the mound for the first game of the season for the Astros, which will take place on Friday. France has a record of 4-3 with a 3.31 ERA and 50 strikeouts in 70.2 innings pitched this year across 12 appearances (the first 12 starts of his career). 

Without doubt, I'll be backing the Houston Astros here. The results of France's most recent three starts haven't been all that horrible. During this span, he has five earned runs on the board after 17.1 combined innings. As for Harris, he has had some trouble as of late, as seen by the fact that he has allowed 16 earned runs in his most recent 14.0 innings and has a record of 0-2 over three starts. Thursday was a good day for Houston's bullpen, as they went 3.1 innings, only allowing one hit and one earned run while striking out four batters and walking one. I believe that France will get Houston off to a good start in the first game, even though he may have to go for up to six innings.