Athletics bring 1-0 series advantage over Astros into game 2

Updated Jul. 16, 2022 3:01 a.m. ET

Associated Press

Oakland Athletics (31-60, fifth in the AL West) vs. Houston Astros (58-31, first in the AL West)

Houston; Saturday, 4:10 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Athletics: Jared Koenig (1-2, 6.38 ERA, 1.75 WHIP, 10 strikeouts); Astros: Justin Verlander (11-3, 2.00 ERA, .87 WHIP, 98 strikeouts)

FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK LINE: Astros -208, Athletics +174; over/under is 8 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Oakland Athletics play the Houston Astros with a 1-0 series lead.

Houston is 27-13 at home and 58-31 overall. The Astros are 34-2 in games when they scored at least five runs.

Oakland has a 31-60 record overall and a 20-28 record in road games. The Athletics have a 10-45 record in games when they have given up a home run.

Saturday's game is the eighth meeting between these teams this season. The Astros have a 5-2 advantage in the season series.

TOP PERFORMERS:

Seth Brown has 17 doubles, two triples and 10 home runs for the Athletics. Ramon Laureano is 8-for-37 with four home runs over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Astros: 6-4, .237 batting average, 3.54 ERA, outscored opponents by three runs

Athletics: 5-5, .203 batting average, 4.05 ERA, outscored opponents by two runs

INJURIES: Astros: Jose Altuve: day-to-day (knee), Yordan Alvarez: 10-Day IL (hand), Jason Castro: 10-Day IL (knee), Blake Taylor: 60-Day IL (elbow), Michael Brantley: 10-Day IL (shoulder), Josh James: 60-Day IL (lat), Parker Mushinski: 15-Day IL (elbow), Lance McCullers Jr.: 60-Day IL (forearm)

Athletics: Stephen Piscotty: day-to-day (wrist), Frankie Montas: day-to-day (shoulder), Jed Lowrie: 10-Day IL (shoulder), Jonah Bride: 10-Day IL (shoulder), Dany Jimenez: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Daulton Jefferies: 60-Day IL (arm), Deolis Guerra: 60-Day IL (elbow), Brent Honeywell Jr.: 60-Day IL (elbow)

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.