Athletics (23-31, fifth in the AL West) vs. Houston Astros (28-25, second in the AL West)
Houston; Tuesday, 8:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Athletics: JP Sears (4-4, 4.00 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 42 strikeouts); Astros: Hunter Brown (6-3, 2.04 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 71 strikeouts)
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Astros -207, Athletics +172; over/under is 7 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Houston Astros host the Athletics on Tuesday to begin a two-game series.
Houston is 28-25 overall and 18-10 in home games. The Astros are 21-10 in games when they record eight or more hits.
The Athletics are 23-31 overall and 14-12 on the road. Athletics hitters have a collective .419 slugging percentage to rank sixth in MLB.
The teams meet Tuesday for the first time this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Isaac Paredes has seven doubles, a triple and 11 home runs while hitting .276 for the Astros. Jose Altuve is 11 for 38 with two home runs over the past 10 games.
Brent Rooker leads the Athletics with 12 home runs while slugging .468. Miguel Andujar is 15 for 43 with three doubles, a home run and four RBIs over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Astros: 6-4, .275 batting average, 3.51 ERA, outscored opponents by four runs
Athletics: 1-9, .249 batting average, 5.79 ERA, outscored by 26 runs
INJURIES: Astros: Ronel Blanco: 15-Day IL (elbow), Hayden Wesneski: 60-Day IL (elbow), Yordan Alvarez: 10-Day IL (hand), Spencer Arrighetti: 15-Day IL (thumb), Luis Garcia: 60-Day IL (elbow), Cristian Javier: 60-Day IL (elbow), J.P. France: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Taylor Trammell: 10-Day IL (calf), Pedro Leon: 10-Day IL (knee)
Athletics: Nick Kurtz: day-to-day (hip), Zack Gelof: 60-Day IL (hand), Gio Urshela: 10-Day IL (hamstring), J.T. Ginn: 15-Day IL (quadricep), T.J. McFarland: 15-Day IL (groin), Jose Leclerc: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Brady Basso: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Ken Waldichuk: 60-Day IL (elbow), Luis Medina: 60-Day IL (elbow)
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
The Associated Press
