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Houston Astros (47-40) vs. Oakland Athletics (37-50), July 9, 2016, 3:10 PM CDT
TV: Root Sports SW
Online: MLB.TV
Radio: KBME SportsTalk 790 AM, La Nueva 94.1 FM (En Español)
Athletics SB Nation Blog: Athletics Nation
Pitching Matchup
RHP Lance McCullers (4-2, 3.57 ERA, 1.57 WHIP) vs. RHP Kendall Graveman (4-6, 4.57 ERA, 1.50 WHIP)
Preview
It doesn't get much better than Friday's win. The Astros practically had the life sucked out of them only to have Luis Valbuena jolt everything back into place. The Astros look to ride that momentum with Lance McCullers on the mound on Saturday at Minute Maid Park.
McCullers was skipped for one start last week and returned to full form on July 4 against the Mariners -- he allowed just one run on five hits while striking out 10. McCullers is 4-1 with a 2.98 ERA in his last seven starts (42.1 IP).
McCullers is making his second start against Oakland this season (both at home), he allowed two runs on eight hits over seven innings in a win on June 5. He is 1-0 with a 2.31 ERA in two career starts against the Athletics.
Current Athletics are batting .250 (9x36) against McCullers with a .346 BABIP, 2.64 FIP, 24.4 K%, and a 12.2 BB%.
| OAKLAND ATHLETICS CAREER STATISTICS VS. LANCE MCCULLERS | ||||||||||||
| BATTER | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| Yonder Alonso | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1.000 | 1.000 | 1.500 | 2.500 |
| Billy Burns | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Billy Butler | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Coco Crisp | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0.000 | 0.143 | 0.000 | 0.143 |
| Khris Davis | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Sam Fuld | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.500 | 0.000 | 0.500 |
| Jed Lowrie | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.000 | 0.250 | 0.000 | 0.250 |
| Max Muncy | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.500 | 0.500 | 1.000 | 1.500 |
| Josh Reddick | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Marcus Semien | 5 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.600 | 0.667 | 0.800 | 1.467 |
| Eric Sogard | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0.500 | 0.500 | 0.500 | 1.000 |
| Danny Valencia | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0.333 | 0.500 | 0.333 | 0.833 |
| Stephen Vogt | 6 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0.500 | 0.500 | 0.667 | 1.167 |
Kendall Graveman is making his second start this season against the Astros. He allowed five runs on seven hits over 4 1/3 innings on June 4. Graveman finished the month of June with a 1-0 record and a 4.33 ERA in five starts. He is coming off an excellent start against the Twins, he allowed one earned run on three hits over 6 2/3 innings on July 4.
Graveman is 1-1 with a 6.91 ERA in three career starts against the Astros. He is 1-0 with a 4.66 ERA in two starts at Minute Maid Park.
Current Astros are batting .333 (17x51) against Graveman with a .326 BABIP, 6.17 FIP, 6.9 K%, and an 8.6 BB%.
| HOUSTON ASTROS CAREER STATISTICS VS. KENDALL GRAVEMAN | ||||||||||||
| BATTER | AB | H | 2B | 3B | HR | RBI | BB | SO | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| Jose Altuve | 9 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0.333 | 0.333 | 0.667 | 1.000 |
| Jason Castro | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.200 | 0.333 | 0.200 | 0.533 |
| Carlos Correa | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.500 | 0.667 | 0.500 | 1.167 |
| Evan Gattis | 5 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.400 | 0.400 | 1.000 | 1.400 |
| Marwin Gonzalez | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.333 | 0.500 | 0.333 | 0.833 |
| Jake Marisnick | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Colby Rasmus | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.667 | 0.714 | 1.000 | 1.714 |
| George Springer | 8 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.250 | 0.333 | 0.375 | 0.708 |
| Luis Valbuena | 7 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0.429 | 0.500 | 0.571 | 1.071 |