The A’s and Astros will go a long way toward deciding the AL West this week as the two teams face off five times in four days. Game one of today’s doubleheader is a makeup from when Hurricane Laura disrupted the series in Houston. As such, the Astros will be the home team on the field despite being in Oakland.
The A’s currently sit 3.5 games ahead of Houston, who sits at 6th in the playoff standings. Oakland leads the season series 3-2, but the two losses came in both games of a doubleheader. Oakland and Houston both enter this series having won just four of their last 10 games, so neither team has been able to take advantage of the other’s recent struggles. One advantage for the A’s in this series is their home record versus the Astros’ road record. Oakland is 14-6 at home, while Houston is just 5-13 on the road.
The Astros do get a bit of good news today, as Alex Bregman gets activated from the IL. For the A’s, third baseman Matt Chapman looks doubtful for the week as he deals with a leg injury.
Frankie Montas Looks to Get on Track Against Houston
Frankie Montas started the season strong, but his last three starts have been an unmitigated disaster. After giving up nine runs to the Diamondbacks on August 18, Montas has lasted just 4.2 innings against the Angels (4R, 7H) and 3.2 innings against the Astros (5R, 6H). Along with his ERA, Montas’s FIP has ballooned to 4.46, and his WHIP sits at 1.516. There is no doubt that Montas has good form, as he held Houston scoreless over seven innings earlier this season, but there has been a notable change in performance since that Arizona debacle.
The Oakland A’s offense was once the highest home run hitting team in baseball. The all or nothing approach enabled the A’s to take the lead in the AL West. But over the past seven games (2-5), A’s hitters have put only two balls into the bleachers. At home, the A’s slash .224/.316/.397 and have hit 26 homers.
OVer the past seven games, Tommy La Stella has been the lone bright spot in the lineup. La Stella has slashed .33/.385/.500 over that stretch. At home, Robbie Grossman is hitting an even .300 with 2 homers, and leads the team with a .267/.400/.544 slash line against right handed pitching.
Young Javier Aims to Cut Into A’s Lead
The Houston Astros may be the warmer of the two teams entering Tuesday’s contest, but that warmth is relative. While Oakland has had a power outage the last seven games, Houston has hit 11 home runs over that same stretch, and has 62 hits against 54 strikeouts.
Leading the way individually is Michael Brantley, who has slashed .346/.414/.654 with two homers over the past seven games. He also leads the Astros against righties with a .316 average. Kyle Tucker’s road splits are a team best .329/.382/.700 with a 1.082 OPS and five home runs.
The key will be getting a quality start from rookie Cristian Javier. Javier has an impressive 0.956 WHIP with 34 strikeouts in 37.2 IP this season. In his last start against the Rangers, Javier gave up two runs on six hits over seven innings. Earlier this season, Javier was roughed up for five runs on three hits against the A’s, taking a loss.
Notable Trends
- Houston: 1-4 in last five games
- Houston: 1-6 in last seven games in Oakland
- Oakland: 11-3 in last 14 games at home
- Oakland: 6-1 in last seven home games against Astros
