This Thursday the (51-91) Oakland Athletics and the (92-50) Houston Astros will play their first game of this four-game series. The first pitch will be thrown out at 7:20 PM EST inside Minute Maid Park. The last time these two teams matched up, the Astros ended up sweeping the A's in three games.
The Oakland Athletics are entering this game after losing their previous four-game series to the Chicago White Sox. The A's had a hard time consistently reaching base safely, as they struggled at the plate in the first three games. They will need to be better at the dish if they want to challenge the Astros on the road.
The Houston Astros are entering this one after winning their previous series against the Detroit Tigers. The Astros looked incredible on the mound to start that series, as they only allowed three combined runs in the first two games. They will be looking to stay hot on the mound in this one.
The Oakland Athletics are currently in dead last place in the AL West, as they are now 41.0 games back from the first-place Houston Astros. The A's are also 2-8 in their last 10 games played, as their poor play has allowed them to slide in the wrong direction. Oakland is also 28.5 games back from the final AL Wild Card spot, as they will most likely miss the postseason this year.
At the plate, the Athletics are scoring 3.54 runs per game and they are hitting .217 as a team. This is the second least amount of runs averaged per game and the lowest overall team batting average. They have struggled to reach base safely, which has made it much more difficult to score. Oakland has also shown that they don't have a ton of home run power hidden inside of their lineup. They are only hitting .86 bombs per game, which is the third lowest average in the MLB. They do not have many guys that can change this game with one sw ing of the bat. The Athletics won't stay aggressive on the base paths either. They have only swiped 67 stolen bases this season, which is the 19th most in the MLB. They can't risk losing these base runners, as they have been hard to come by for Oakland this season.
According to MLB.com, the A's will be starting James Kaprielian on the mound. He is currently 3-9 with a 4.79 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP. In his last start, he pitched for 5.2 innings but he gave up seven hits and two earned runs. His team has also lost four of the last five games that he has started. Kaprielian has been decent on the road this season, as well. He is 3-4 with a 4.00 ERA outside of his home ballpark. The A's bullpen has also had issues, as they currently have the 23rd highest bullpen ERA in the league. They are allowing 4.35 runs per game. As a team, the Athletics are allowing 4.82 runs per game, which is the 24th most in the MLB.