Game Thread #122: Athletics vs Astros

Fresh off of a two game split series in San Francisco, the Athletics move back home to Oakland to take on the current AL West juggernaut, the Houston Astros.

The A’s will be up against one of Houston’s big acquisitions at the trade deadline, Aaron Sanchez. This will be the Athletics’ third time seeing Sanchez this year, both other appearances were with his old club, Toronto, and contributed to the Jays season sweep of the A’s. Sanchez has been dominant in his previous two Astros starts, and has been backed up by baffling amounts of run support by the Houston lineup.

On the mound for the A’s is Mike Fiers, the reliable righty who owns the lowest American League ERA since April. Fiers last start against the Stros was the team’s only win so far in Houston, holding the spacemen to 2 runs over a fantastic 7.2 innings of work. While the A’s have never been shut out on a Fiers start, they still will need to get ahead of Sanchez early to help back up their best starter.

Lineups:

Lineup Notes:

• After a great offensive game yesterday, Robbie Grossman stays batting second today.
• Khris is back after the two NL games in San Francisco. Batting 5th is a good vote of confidence after a number of off days and lower line-up spots.
• Corban Joseph gets his second A’s start at 2B after a waiver pickup in the offseason and a promotion yesterday morning.
• Chad Pinder is in CF today as Mark Canha is dealing with a bruised hand.

Go A’s!