The Oakland A's, last in the AL West Division, travel to the first-place Houston Astros to start a three-game series in a three-game weekend series. Oakland comes in with the second-worst record in baseball as they've committed to a complete rebuild. The Astros will look to officially clinch a playoff spot this weekend with a magic number of just three. The pitching matchup for Friday night will be Adrian Martinez (4-4, 5.59) of the A's taking on Justin Verlander (16-3, 1.84) of the Astros. First pitch is scheduled for 8:10pm EST.
Listening closely and you can hear the sound of the free-falling A's as they plummet towards the worst record in the American League. Dwindling attendance, poor ownership and a roster made up of a mix of veteran platoon players and inexperienced youngsters will do that to a team. The A's come into this series looking like the perfect patsies for the Astros to start the first of what they hope to be many celebrations this fall. Coming into Thursday night's action, the A's have lost seven of their last ten games and look primed for a 100-loss season. On Thursday night in the opener of this four-game series, the A's continued in their funk, falling 5-2 to the Astros.
Happy #HispanicHeritageMonth!
Join us in celebrating all month long! #DrumTogether pic.twitter.com/kKI5EJnqq8
— Oakland A's (@Athletics) September 15, 2022
It will be interesting to see what Oakland has in store for next season as the current roster seems to be lacking in breakout players. The A's will likely try to continue to rebuild the farm system through the draft and hit on some key veteran free-agent pickups on the cheap as they have done in the past. As currently constituted, it will likely be another frustrating year in Oakland in 2023. On the mound for the rebuilding A's on Friday night will be right-hander Adrian Martinez. In his last five starts, Martinez has gone 2-3 with an ERA of 5.32 and has allowed 28 hits in 23.2 innings of work. This will be the young right-hander's first start against the Astros in his career as he's making just his 9th start.