For those who followed along with our best bet on the Under in the Astros’ 2-1 win Sunday over the White Sox, we return to Houston for Thursday’s top play.

The Under is 11-5 (68.8 percent) in games with umpire Hunter Wendelstedt behind the plate this season and 71-49-13 (59.2 percent) since 2014. He averages ringing up batters at an average of 20.3 strikeouts per game (second-highest among MLB umps) and the last time he worked Minute Maid Park (the best pitchers’ park in the majors), it was a 4-2 win by the Astros over the Red Sox, a team with a much better offense than Oakland.

Now, as much as I love relying on umpires with my MLB totals, I don’t advise betting even the strongest Over or Under umps blindly. So, it adds to my confidence that we have Houston starting Charlie Morton, who is 11-2 this season, including 8-1 at Minute Maid with a 2.66 ERA and 1.05 WHIP.

The play: A’s-Astros Under 8 runs.