2021 Series Poll: Oakland Athletics @ Houston Astros

Quick Notes

The 2021 regular season for the Astros ends with three games against the division rival A’s, who have already guaranteed themselves a spot on their couches come next week. While there were some expectations at the beginning of the season that this series might have been a final battle for the AL West crown, Oakland’s September collapse has made those predictions as dust.

If the A’s faithful want to blame anyone though, it should be the Mariners. Oakland has lost 12 straight games to the M’s, including two sweeps in their last 10 games. That makes it fitting that they were officially eliminated from the playoffs by a loss to Seattle just this last week. It also didn’t help that the offense as a whole was never much better than average and that injuries to key players on both sides of the ball hit the team late in the season.

So now we come to final weekend of the 2021 season and the only thing that Oakland has left to play for is spoiler to Houston’s home field ambitions next week. After sweeping them in the Coliseum last weekend that idea doesn’t seem so preposterous. But Oakland is in a situation they haven’t been in since 2017, which is staring at a flight home after Game 162, so we’ll just have to see how motivated they are.

Last 10 Games: 3-7 Record, 1 Series Sweep, 2 Series Swept, -8 Run Differential (38 Scored, 46 Allowed)

W/L Splits: 43-38 at home, 42-36 on the road, 29-49 against teams over .500

For Your Viewing and Listening Pleasure

Game 1: Sean Manaea (LHP, 10-10, 3.94 ERA, 188 K’s) vs Framber Valdez (LHP, 11-5, 2.98 ERA, 118 K’s)
When: Friday, October 1st @ 7:10 pm CDT
Listen: Athletics - Bloomberg 960 AM, A’s Cast / Astros - KBME 790 AM/94.5 FM HD-2, TUDN 93.3/KLAT 1010, KTRH 740 AM/99.1 FM HD-2
Watch: Athletics - NBCSCA / Astros - ATT SportsNet-SW

AD

Game 2: Paul Blackburn (RHP, 1-3, 4.71 ERA, 24 K’s) vs Jake Odorizzi (RHP, 6-7, 4.14 ERA, 88 K’s)
When: Saturday, October 2nd @ 6:10 pm CDT
Listen: Athletics - Bloomberg 960 AM, A’s Cast / Astros - TUDN 93.3/KLAT 1010, KTRH 740 AM/99.1 FM HD-2
Watch: Athletics - NBCSCA / Astros - ATT SportsNet-SW

Game 3: TBD vs Jose Urquidy (RHP, 8-3, 3.56 ERA, 87 K’s)
When: Sunday, October 3rd @ 2:10 pm CDT
Listen: Athletics - Bloomberg 960 AM, A’s Cast / Astros - KBME 790 AM/94.5 FM HD-2, TUDN 93.3/KLAT 1010
Watch: Athletics - NBCSCA / Astros - ATT SportsNet-SW