Series 17 (of 52): Astros visit Oakland

Tonight at 8:40 p.m. CT, the Astros will meet the Oakland A’s for the first game of a three-game series.

This is the second (of four) series between Houston and Oakland. The Astros swept the first, a four-game series between May 13-16. They will meet two more times during the season – July 22-24 again in Oakland and September 10-12 at MMP. .

As noted, Houston unceremoniously eliminated the Athletics in the season-opening series last week, winning by a total score of 22-4. In the final, Cristian Javier (3-1, 3.23) struck out eight in six shutout innings, walking one and allowing two hits before giving way to Shawn Dubin for a nine-out save. Houston did most of its offensive damage with a six-run third inning, featuring Joey Loperfido’s first career homer. Alex Bregman and Jake Meyers had two hits each in the victory.

It’s a long season and we have a long way to go. We have to continue to develop the way we play now, but I’m very happy. —Joe Espada

In all-time matchups, Houston is 111-93 against the A’s, a .544 winning percentage which translates to Houston’s eighth-best record against an opponent all-time.

Houston is coming off a three-game set against the Los Angeles Angels, losing the first and closest. Midway through Tuesday’s game, Jeremy Peña shut out the Halos with a 10th-inning RBI single for a 6-5 victory. Josh Hader (3-3, 4.09) earned the win with two perfect innings of relief and four strikeouts. Kyle Tucker (16, 17), Jon Singleton (5) and Yordan Alvarez (9) each contributed to the victory.

We have really good fans and they do a good job cheering us on. It was a cool moment. It’s still early, so there’s a long way to go. -Tucker

Oakland just finished a three-game series against the Colorado Rockies. After splitting the first two, the Rockies won the final 4-3 in 12 innings yesterday afternoon. JJ Bleday (6) went deep, while Brett Rooker and Zach Gelof collected two hits each. Seven pitchers entered the game for the A’s, but Kyle Muller (0-1, 3.94) took the loss.

I was able to hit (lefties) in Triple-A. My goal is to try to hit them in the big leagues. —Bleday

Ranking

Houston Astros: 22-28, .440, third in AL West, 4 ¹⁄₂ games behind the Seattle Mariners, leaders of their division, 12th in the American League and 22nd in the MLB. At the rate of 71-91. Fangraphs’ projection is 84-78, with a 50.2 percent chance of making the playoffs. Last 10: WWWWWLWLWL.

Oakland Athletics: 21-31, .404, fourth in AL West, 6 ¹⁄₂ games behind the M. 13th in the American League, 25th in the MLB. On a 65-97 pace, Fangraph’s projection is 68-94, with a 0.2 percent chance of making the playoffs. Last 10: LLLLLLLWLL.

Heroes and zeros (Highest and lowest WPA in Houston’s series against LA)

Josh Hader 44.7
Kyle Tucker25.0
Mauricio Dubon 18.3
Ryan Pressley 12.1
Taylor Scott 7.6

José Altuve -17.0
Victor Caratini -19.9
Cristian Javier -24.1
Alex Bregman -34.4
Framber Valdez -57.7