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Oakland Athletics at Houston Astros, Apr 26, 2014 6:10 PM CDT
TV: CSN Houston, MLB.TV
Radio: KBME 790 AM, KLAT 1010 AM
Athletics SBNation Blog: Athletics Nation
Pitching matchup
RHP Dan Straily (1-1, 5.40 ERA, 1.29 WHIP) vs. LHP Dallas Keuchel (2-1, 3.38 ERA, 1.29 WHIP)
Series Preview Quote
Dallas Keuchel has pitched his brains out this season - minus his first start he has a 2.39 ERA in his last three starts. He allowed two runs over six innings in his last outing with eight strikeouts. He ranks fourth in the majors in groundball to flyball ratio at 1.56, only behind Robbie Ross, Mike Leake, and Justin Masterson.
A few A's have had success against Keuchel in their careers - Yoenis Cespedes (5-for-6), Nate Freiman (5-for-8), and Josh Donaldson (4-for-10).
Dan Straily has a low 90s fastball that he combines with a slider - he won't blow hitters away rather he is pitching to contact. He lasted five innings in his last against Texas, he gave up three earned runs on six hits. On September 7, 2013, he held the Astros scoreless over seven innings - scattering two hits and striking out seven.
Well you can see where my head is at with this game, I've had the bobblehead games marked down since FanFest. That's enough about that.
The Astros have been knocked around like a little brother to the two-time AL West champion Athletics. More specifically, Josh Donaldson has been roughing up the Astros single-handedly - he has three home runs in the past two games. He already has four home runs against Houston this season.
The A's have outscored the Astros 22 to 6 thus far in the series. As a team the A's have batted .341 (28-82) over the last two games.
The Astros reach a new season-high with 11 hits yesterday in a losing effort. Jose Altuve has had back-to-back 3-hit games. Alex Presley, Dexter Fowler, and Matt Dominguez continued their hitting streaks last night - each are up to six games.
At this point, I would be happy with a game that doesn't need a ruling from the unwritten rules of baseball. Let's just play ball.