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Game No. 149 Preview: Houston Astros vs. Oakland Athletics

Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Houston Astros (77-71) vs. Oakland Athletics (64-84), Sep 19, 20156:10 PM CDT

TV: Root Sports SW, MLB.TV, ESPN
Radio: KBME 790 AM, KLAT 1010 AM
Athletics SB Nation Blog: Athletics Nation

Pitching Matchup:

LHP Scott Kazmir (7-10, 2.63 ERA, 1.13 WHIP) vs. RHP Sonny Gray(13-7, 2.56 ERA, 1.05 WHIP)

Preview:

The Astros have lost seven of eight and fallen out of first place in the American League West. Now, they face Sonny Gray for the last time this season. Oh, joy.

All's not lost. The two times the Astros had losing streaks of 6-or-more losses, they are bounded with winning streaks as equally as long. Yes, the task of beating Gray is a tall order. But, playoffs teams find a way. To use a idiom from football, you don't serve to be on the field if can't get one yard.

Scott Kazmir again faces Sonny Gray in game like they did last time around on Sept. 8. Last time Kazmir was outdueled by gray, giving up four runs over six innings. Gray pitched seven scoreless innings that game.

OAKLAND ATHLETICS CAREER STATISTICS VS. SCOTT KAZMIR
BATTER AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS
Billy Butler"]">Billy Butler 35 13 0 0 0 2 3 5 0.371 0.436 0.371 0.807
Coco Crisp"]">Coco Crisp 36 11 3 0 1 4 6 11 0.306 0.405 0.472 0.877
Billy Burns"]">Billy Burns 3 2 0 0 1 1 0 0 0.667 0.667 1.667 2.333
Mark Canha"]">Mark Canha 3 2 0 0 1 3 0 0 0.667 0.667 1.667 2.333
Jake Smolinski"]">Jake Smolinski 11 2 1 0 1 3 2 4 0.182 0.286 0.545 0.831
Craig Gentry"]">Craig Gentry 3 1 0 0 0 1 0 1 0.333 0.333 0.333 0.667
Brett Lawrie"]">Brett Lawrie 6 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 0.167 0.167 0.167 0.333
Josh Phegley"]">Josh Phegley 5 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 0.200 0.200 0.200 0.400
Josh Reddick"]">Josh Reddick 6 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.167 0.167 0.167 0.333
Marcus Semien"]">Marcus Semien 4 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 0.250 0.400 1.000 1.400
Danny Valencia 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.200 0.200 0.200 0.400
Eric Sogard 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

In their most recent outings, Gray gave up seven runs over three innings against the White Sox. Kazmir allowed two earned runs over seven innings in Arlington.

HOUSTON ASTROS CAREER STATISTICS VS. SONNY GRAY
BATTER AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS
Jose Altuve"]">Jose Altuve 21 6 0 0 0 1 0 2 0.286 0.286 0.286 0.571
Luis Valbuena"]">Luis Valbuena 7 4 0 0 1 1 2 0 0.571 0.667 1.000 1.667
Jason Castro"]">Jason Castro 8 3 1 0 0 0 1 3 0.375 0.444 0.500 0.944
Jonathan Villar"]">Jonathan Villar 12 3 1 0 0 0 0 2 0.250 0.250 0.333 0.583
Chris Carter"]">Chris Carter 9 2 0 0 1 4 1 2 0.222 0.273 0.556 0.828
Evan Gattis"]">Evan Gattis 11 2 0 0 0 1 1 3 0.182 0.250 0.182 0.432
Robbie Grossman"]">Robbie Grossman 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0.500 0.500 0.500 1.000
L.J. Hoes"]">L.J. Hoes 6 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.333 0.333 0.333 0.667
Colby Rasmus"]">Colby Rasmus 9 2 1 0 0 1 0 3 0.222 0.222 0.333 0.556
George Springer"]">George Springer 8 2 0 0 0 1 2 0 0.250 0.400 0.250 0.650
Hank Conger"]">Hank Conger 10 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 0.100 0.100 0.100 0.200
Carlos Correa"]">Carlos Correa 7 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.143 0.143 0.143 0.286
Carlos Gomez"]">Carlos Gomez 7 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0.143 0.143 0.286 0.429
Preston Tucker"]">Preston Tucker 7 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.143 0.143 0.143 0.286
Jed Lowrie"]">Jed Lowrie 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000
Jake Marisnick"]">Jake Marisnick 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0.000 0.000 0.000 0.000

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