Astros visit the Athletics to begin the 2021 season

Houston Astros vs. Oakland Athletics

Oakland, California; Thursday, 10:07 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Astros: Zack Greinke (0-0, 0.00 ERA) Athletics: Chris Bassitt (0-0, 0.00 ERA)

LINE: Astros favored by 1 1/2 runs; over/under is 8 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: Oakland hosts Houston to start the 2021 season.

The Athletics went 26-14 in division games in 2020. Oakland pitchers had an ERA of 3.77 last season while striking out 8.4 hitters per game.

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 12 total triples last season.

INJURIES: Athletics: None listed.

Astros: Justin Verlander: (elbow), Pedro Baez: (undisclosed).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.