Houston Astros (78-80, first in the AL West) vs. Athletics (63-95, fourth in the AL West)
West Sacramento, California; Thursday, 9:40 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Astros: Peter Lambert (8-10, 3.70 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 147 strikeouts); Athletics: Mason Barnett (1-4, 7.16 ERA, 1.75 WHIP, 42 strikeouts)
LINE: Astros -165, Athletics +135; over/under is 10 1/2 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Athletics take on the Houston Astros after Henry Bolte had four hits against the Angels on Wednesday.
The Athletics have a 63-95 record overall and a 31-46 record at home. The Athletics have a 34-16 record in games when they hit two or more home runs.
Houston has a 39-38 record in road games and a 78-80 record overall. The Astros have the fifth-best team slugging percentage in MLB play at .412.
The matchup Thursday is the 10th time these teams match up this season. The Athletics have a 5-4 advantage in the season series.
TOP PERFORMERS: Jeff McNeil leads the Athletics with a .265 batting average, and has 22 doubles, eight home runs, 30 walks and 56 RBIs. Lawrence Butler is 11 for 37 with three home runs and seven RBIs over the past 10 games.
Yordan Alvarez has 33 doubles, a triple and 41 home runs while hitting .316 for the Astros. Isaac Paredes is 10 for 35 with a double and four home runs over the past 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Athletics: 3-7, .239 batting average, 6.96 ERA, outscored by 31 runs
Astros: 3-7, .229 batting average, 4.29 ERA, outscored by 11 runs
INJURIES: Athletics: Nick Kurtz: 60-Day IL (thumb), Max Muncy: 10-Day IL (knee), J.T. Ginn: 60-Day IL (elbow), Brooks Kriske: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Justin Sterner: 60-Day IL (knee), Gage Jump: 15-Day IL (left shoulder), Luis Severino: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Jacob Wilson: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Tyler Soderstrom: 60-Day IL (hip), Mark Leiter Jr.: 60-Day IL (hip), Brent Rooker: 60-Day IL (knee), Gunnar Hoglund: 60-Day IL (knee)
Astros: Daulton Varsho: day-to-day (wrist), Jake Meyers: 60-Day IL (kneecap), Brice Matthews: 10-Day IL (knee), Cristian Javier: 15-Day IL (groin), Steven Okert: 15-Day IL (hamstring), Enyel De Los Santos: 15-Day IL (knee), Mike Burrows: 60-Day IL (elbow), Carlos Correa: 60-Day IL (ankle), Brandon Walter: 60-Day IL (elbow)
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
