Daily tips for July 25

MLB for July 25

Oakland Athletics (58-42, 28-27 away) @ Houston Astros (34-65, 18-36 home), Minute Maid Park, Houston, TX, Thursday, July 25, 4.10am

Our best of the day in the MLB is the opening game of 15 scheduled today and represents one of the strongest plays we’ve seen in several weeks. After going 0-10 against Oakland to start the season, the Astros finally came away with a 5-4 win over their new American League West opponents at Minute Maid Park yesterday. With that monkey off their back, they'll look to win back-to-back games for the first time since mid-June in the series finale against Oakland.

Bud Norris’ name has been popular in trade talks for the entire season, and even more so as the July 31 non-waiver Trade Deadline approaches. With that, this could mark Norris' last start as an Astro, but Porter is more focused on the present than the future. The focus for Norris (6-9, 3.91 ERA), who will be countered by A’s starter A.J. Griffin (8-7, 3.82 ERA), will be improving upon his previous two starts, in which he went 0-2 with a 10.97 ERA, allowing 17 hits in 10 2/3 innings. Most recently, Norris went 5 2/3 innings against the Mariners on Friday, giving up six runs on six hits and four walks along the way.

He'll also look to perform better than his last outing against the A’s on April 17 in Oakland, where he surrendered six runs and five hits while walking three in just two-thirds of an inning. Unlike that start, Norris likely will have to face Home Run Derby winner Yoenis Cespedes, who missed the April 17 contest while on the disabled list with a strained muscle in his left hand. Cespedes hasn’t started since the All-Star break as he battles a sore left wrist, but he had a double off the bench on Tuesday.

Oakland is 49-29 with Cespedes in the line-up this season while going just 9-13 when he doesn’t start.  Houston hasn't won two in-a-row in over a month and is 6-20 in Norris’ past 26 starts against a team with a winning record. Meanwhile Oakland is 4-1 in Griffin's last five starts, 9-2 in Griffin's last 11 when their opponent scores 5+ runs in the previous game and 13-3 in last 16 road games against a team with a home winning record below .400.

Suggested bet: Oakland WIN (4.5 units @ $1.64) WIN, game total -8 (1.5 units @ $1.95) WIN (4-3)

Other tips

IL: Dodgers WIN $2.00 @ Blues Jays WIN (8-3)
AL: Indians WIN $1.83 @ Mariners WIN (10-1)
AL: Rays WIN $1.93 @ Red Sox WIN (5-1)
AL: Yankees @ Rangers WIN $1.60 WIN +8.5 $1.93 LOSE (1-3)
AL: Tigers WIN $1.75 @ White Sox WIN (6-2)
AL: Orioles @ Royals WIN $1.95 WIN (3-4)
NL: Pirates WIN $2.20 @ Nationals WIN (4-2)
NL: Braves @ Mets WIN $2.28 LOSE (8-2)
NL: Padres @ Brewers WIN $1.68 WIN (1-3)
NL: Phillies @ Cardinals WIN $1.61 WIN (3-11)
NL: Marlins @ Rockies WIN $1.58 WIN (1-2)
NL: Reds @ Giants WIN $2.03 LOSE -7.5 $1.79 LOSE (8-3)

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