Houston Astros visit Oakland Athletics: Series Preview

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26 May 2023

Houston Astros visit Oakland Athletics: Series Preview

The Houston Astros visit the Oakland Athletics for three games starting tonight at 8:40 PM CT.

Tonight at 8:40 PM CT, the Houston Astros will play the first game of a three-game series against the Oakland Athletics. This is the second of four times the two will play this season. They’ll play four more games in Oakland from July 20 through 23, then a three-game set back in Houston from September 11 through 13.

The first time the two teams met this year was this past weekend. Houston swept the A’s in three games, capped off by a 2-0 shutout on Sunday. Houston managed the win despite only five hits out of the lineup, including a pair by Martin Maldonado. It was Framber Valdez who was the big hero, pitching a complete game and striking out seven against zero walks and four hits.

After sweeping the A’s and running their winning streak to eight games, the Astros ended up dropping the final two games of their interleague series against the Milwaukee Brewers. After a 12-2 victory, they lost the final two, 6-0 and 4-0. In the finale, Houston only managed four hits, while Brandon Bielak took the loss. Bielak surrendered four runs on five hits and a walk over 6 ⁄₃ innings.

Last night Oakland lost their ninth game in a row playing the Seattle Mariners

All Time Head to Head

Houston owns a 100-90 edge in head-to-head matchups against Oakland. Their .526 fielding percentage is their 12th best against the other 29 teams. Houston also has a 3-1 edge in postseason play.

Standings

Houston Astros: 28-21 .571, second in the AL West, 3.0 GB, in possession of third wild-card spot, fifth in the American League, eighth in MLB, on pace for 93-69, last 10: WWWWWWWWLL, playoff odds: 90.7 percent b/r, 77.9 percent f/g.

Oakland Athletics: 10-42, .192, fifth in the AL West, 22.0 GB, 19.0 WCGB, 15th in the AL, 30th in MLB, on pace for 31-131, last 10: LWLLLLLLLL, playoff odds: are you kidding?

Team leaders

AVG: Mauricio Dubon & Yordan Alvarez .297, Esteury Ruiz .280, Kyle Tucker .276, Brent Rooker .275

OBP: Yordan Alvarez .403, Brent Rooker .382, Kyle Tucker .356. Esteury Ruiz .342, Mauricio Dubon .329

SLG: Yordan Alvarez .600, Brent Rooker .544, Kyle Tucker .448, Jeremy Peña .405, Mauricio Dubon .392

OPS: Yordan Alvarez 1.002, Brent Rooker .926, Kyle Tucker .804, Mauricio Dubon .721, Esteury Ruiz .712

HR: Yordan Alvarez 12, Brent Rooker 11, Shea Langeliers & Kyle Tucker 7, Alex Bregman & Jeremy Peña 6

RBI: Yordan Alvarez 46, Kyle Tucker 33, Brent Rooker 32, Alex Bregman 23, Jeremy Peña & Esteury Ruiz 22

SB: Esteury Ruiz 26, Kyle Tucker 7, Jeremy Peña 6, Corey Julks 5, Chas McCormick, Conner Capel, Jace Peterson & Tyler Wade 4

ERA: Framber Valdez 2.45, Cristian Javier 3.07, Hunter Brown 3.20

WHIP: Cristian Javier 0.95, Framber Valdez 1.03, Hunter Brown 1.26

SO: Framber Valdez 72, Cristian Javier 64, Hunter Brown 56, JP Sears 51, Ken Waldichuk 46

Injury report

Lance McCullers Jr. and Jose Urquidy should both be back sometime near the all-star break. Luis Garcia will be back next season after going under the knife for TJS on May 15. Jose Altuve was out with a sickness and could be back at any time. Michael Brantley’s return is still yet to be determined.

Gametime & Starting Pitching

Tonight at 8:40 PM CT: Hunter Brown (4-1, 3.20) vs. James Kaprielian (0-4, 8.68)
Saturday at 3:07 PM CT: Framber Valdez (4-4, 2.45) vs. TBD
Sunday at 3:07 PM CT: Cristian Javier (5-1, 3.07) vs. Luis “Funky Cold” Medina (0-3, 6.45)

Who’s hot (highest WPA vs. Brewers)

Cristian Javier (.159)
Corey Julks (.088)
Martin Maldonado (.043)
Phil Maton (.037)
Mauricio Dubón (.016)

Who’s not (lowest WPA vs. Brewers)

Jose Abreu (-.095)
Kyle Tucker (-.114)
Yainer Diaz (-.118)
Chas McCormick (-.126)
Jeremy Peña (-.235)

Franchise leaderboard check

Games
4. Lance Berkman 1592
5. Jose Altuve 1582

PA
19. Craig Reynolds 3721
20. Alex Bregman 3692

Runs
3. Lance Bergman 1008
4. Jose Altuve 987

12. George Springer 567
13. Alex Bregman 541

37. Alan Ashby 282
38. Billy Hatcher 279
39. Yordan Alvarez 276

46. Jake Marisnick 234
47. Kyle Tucker 230

Hits
19. Yuli Gurriel 866
20. Craig Reynolds 860
21. Alex Bregman 859

Doubles
36. Adam Everett 102
37. Denis Menke & Yordan Alvarez 101
39. Morgan Ensberg & Bill Spiers 99
41. Michael Brantley 98
42. Kyle Tucker 94

Triples
13. Bob Watson, Doug Rader, Kevin Bass, Denny Walling & Phil Garner 30
18. Jose Altuve 29

35. Ken Caminiti, Adam Everett, Billy Hatcher & Casey Candaele 14
39. Alex Bregman, George Springer, Jesus Alou, Jose Vizcaino, Mike Lamb, Ricky Gutierrez & Luke Scott 13
46. Rusty Staub 12
47. Kyle Tucker, Evan Gattis, Brian Hunter, Wilbur Howard, Lee Maye, Jeffrey Leonard & Omar Moreno 11

Home Runs
5. Jose Altuve 192
9. Alex Bregman 146
16. Yordan Alvarez 110

25. Lee May 81
26. Kyle Tucker 80

46. Denny Walling 47
47. Geoff Blum & Martin Maldonado 46

RBI
8. Jose Altuve 697

12. Glenn Davis 518
13. Alex Bregman 513

31. Morgan Ensberg 335
32. Yordan Alvarez 329

37. Evan Gattis 293
38. Kyle Tucker 289

SB
3. Jose Cruz 288
4. Jose Altuve 279

27. Luis Gonzalez 63
28. Hunter Pence 61
29. Kyle Tucker 60

45. John Cangelosi 38
46. Alex Bregman & Marwin Gonzalez 37

Pitching Wins
26. Jose Lima 46
27. Framber Valdez 45

Games Pitched
23. J.R. Richard & Ryan Pressly 238