Athletics try to stop road losing streak, face the Astros
Oakland Athletics (10-35, fifth in the AL West) vs. Houston Astros (24-19, second in the AL West)
Houston; Friday, 8:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Athletics: Ken Waldichuk (1-2, 7.02 ERA, 1.83 WHIP, 36 strikeouts); Astros: Brandon Bielak (0-1, 3.29 ERA, 1.83 WHIP, 10 strikeouts)
FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK MLB LINE : Astros -249, Athletics +207; over/under is 9 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Oakland Athletics visit the Houston Astros looking to end a four-game road slide.
Houston is 24-19 overall and 11-11 at home. The Astros have the top team ERA in the AL at 3.37.
Oakland is 10-35 overall and 5-15 in road games. Athletics hitters have a collective .310 on-base percentage, the eighth-ranked percentage in the AL.
The teams meet Friday for the first time this season.
TOP PERFORMERS: Mauricio Dubon has a .309 batting average to lead the Astros, and has 10 doubles and a triple. Yordan Alvarez is 13-for-38 with two home runs and eight RBI over the last 10 games.
Brent Rooker has seven doubles and 11 home runs for the Athletics. Esteury Ruiz is 13-for-45 with four doubles and a home run over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Astros: 7-3, .257 batting average, 3.41 ERA, outscored opponents by nine runs
Athletics: 2-8, .225 batting average, 6.73 ERA, outscored by 37 runs
INJURIES: Astros: Luis Garcia: 15-Day IL (elbow), Jose Urquidy: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Parker Mushinski: 15-Day IL (spine), Michael Brantley: 10-Day IL (shoulder), Lance McCullers Jr.: 15-Day IL (elbow), Jose Altuve: 10-Day IL (thumb)
Athletics: Manny Pina: 60-Day IL (wrist), Mason Miller: 15-Day IL (elbow), Dany Jimenez: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Trevor May: 15-Day IL (personal), Freddy Tarnok: 60-Day IL (undisclosed), Seth Brown: 10-Day IL (oblique), Paul Blackburn: 15-Day IL (finger), Kirby Snead: 60-Day IL (shoulder)
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
By The Associated Press
