Athletics and Astros meet in series rubber match
Houston Astros (23-29, third in the AL West) vs. Oakland Athletics (22-32, fourth in the AL West)
Oakland, California; Sunday, 4:07 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Astros: Ronel Blanco (4-0, 2.09 ERA, 1.06 WHIP, 45 strikeouts); Athletics: Aaron Brooks (0-1, 4.15 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, eight strikeouts)
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK: LINE Astros -169, Athletics +142; over/under is 9 runs
BOTTOM LINE: The Oakland Athletics and Houston Astros play on Sunday with the three-game series tied 1-1.
Oakland is 22-32 overall and 13-15 in home games. The Athletics have hit 66 total home runs to rank third in the AL.
Houston is 23-29 overall and 9-14 in road games. The Astros are 12-5 in games when they hit two or more home runs.
The teams meet Sunday for the seventh time this season. The Astros are up 5-1 in the season series.
TOP PERFORMERS: Abraham Toro has 11 doubles, a triple, five home runs and 19 RBI for the Athletics. JJ Bleday is 9-for-39 with four doubles, a triple and three home runs over the past 10 games.
Jeremy Pena has nine doubles, a triple and five home runs for the Astros. Kyle Tucker is 10-for-34 with two doubles and four home runs over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Athletics: 3-7, .226 batting average, 5.00 ERA, outscored by 20 runs
Astros: 6-4, .270 batting average, 3.40 ERA, outscored opponents by 13 runs
INJURIES: Athletics: Austin Adams: day-to-day (neck), Ross Stripling: 15-Day IL (elbow), Esteury Ruiz: 10-Day IL (wrist), Darell Hernaiz: 60-Day IL (ankle), Alex Wood: 15-Day IL (rotator cuff), Paul Blackburn: 15-Day IL (foot), Joseph Boyle: 15-Day IL (back), Freddy Tarnok: 60-Day IL (hip), Luis Medina: 60-Day IL (knee), Sean Newcomb: 60-Day IL (knee), Aledmys Diaz: 60-Day IL (calf), Ken Waldichuk: 60-Day IL (elbow), Trevor Gott: 60-Day IL (elbow)
Astros: Oliver Ortega: 60-Day IL (elbow), Bennett Sousa: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Penn Murfee: 60-Day IL (elbow), Luis Garcia: 60-Day IL (elbow), Lance McCullers Jr.: 60-Day IL (elbow), Jose Urquidy: 15-Day IL (forearm), Kendall Graveman: 60-Day IL (elbow)
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.