By The
Associated Press

Houston Astros (6-6, second in the AL West) vs. Oakland Athletics (9-4, first in the AL West)

Oakland, California; Friday, 9:10 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Astros: Zack Greinke (0-0, 5.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 6 strikeouts) Athletics: Chris Bassitt (1-0, .93 ERA, .93 WHIP, 12 strikeouts)

LINE: Athletics favored by 1 1/2 runs; over/under is 9 1/2 runs

BOTTOM LINE: The Houston Astros play the Oakland Athletics on Friday.

The Athletics finished 44-32 against AL West Division opponents in 2019. Oakland averaged 8.5 hits with 3.5 extra base hits per game and 292 total doubles last season.

The Astros went 56-20 in division play in 2019. Houston pitchers struck out 10.3 hitters a game last year with a staff WHIP of 1.13.

The teams meet for the first time this season.

INJURIES: Athletics: Jordan Weems: (strained lat), A.J. Puk: (shoulder).

Astros: Justin Verlander: (forearm), Austin Pruitt: (undisclosed), Ryan Pressly: (elbow), Brad Peacock: (undisclosed), Roberto Osuna: (right elbow), Chris Devenski: (elbow), Joe Biagini: (shoulder), Rogelio Armenteros: (undisclosed), George Springer: (wrist), Aledmys Diaz: (groin).

The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

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