AL West foes will continue a three-game series on Tuesday night at RingCentral Coliseum with the Houston Astros visiting the Oakland Athletics. Oakland pulled off the upset in Monday's series opener with a 7-5 win to cash in as a huge +187 underdog. Houston is still easily atop the division at 64-33, while the last-place A's have an ugly overall record of 36-63.
The Athletics have been more competitive in this season series than expected as Houston holds just a 6-4 head-to-head advantage.
After winning their first five games of the second half against playoff contenders in the Yankees and Mariners, the Astros were unable to keep it going against the lowly Athletics in Monday's series opener. Jeremy Pena got the Astros off to a hot start with a solo shot in the first before the next runs went to Oakland, and a late homer from Chas McCormick wasn't enough for a rally.
Jake Odorizzi took the loss, allowing six runs on seven hits and one walk while striking out two in five innings. McCormick had an RBI double in addition to the homer, while Pena was on base three times.
Houston is hugely profitable on the money line for the season while going 51-47 on the run line. Overs are only 36-59-3 for the Astros, although their two games both went under the betting total.
Surprisingly, the Astros are only a middling scoring team at 4.47 runs pe r game despite posting a .743 combined OPS that is in the top five. Houston pitching has been terrific top to bottom, ranking second with a 2.98 collective ERA including a mark of 2.74 from baseball's best bullpen.
Yordan Alvarez has been a monster at the plate, posting a .307/.407/.668 line with 28 homers and 65 driven in. Jose Altuve is also turning in yet another terrific season with an .888 OPS, 19 homers and 54 driven in.
Luis Garcia is set to make his 18th start of the season looking for another win after beating the New York Yankees last Thursday, when he allowed two runs on three hits and two walks while striking out across five innings. The 25-year-old is having another good year overall, going 8-5 with a 3.65 ERA and 100:27 K:BB ratio across 93.2 innings.
Outfielder Michael Brantley is still dealing with shoulder discomfort, while catcher Jason Castro is out with knee discomfort. Starting pitcher Lanc e McCullers Jr. (strained flexor tendon) is nearing a season debut as he's on a rehab assignment. Relievers Josh James (strained lat) and Blake Taylor (elbow discomfort) are on the IL.