McCullers Jr. expected to start for Houston against Oakland

Updated Jul. 8, 2021 3:20 a.m. ET

Associated Press

Oakland Athletics (49-39, second in the AL West) vs. Houston Astros (54-33, first in the AL West)

Houston; Thursday, 2:10 p.m. EDT

PITCHING PROBABLES: Athletics: Frankie Montas (7-7, 4.63 ERA, 1.33 WHIP, 95 strikeouts) Astros: Lance McCullers Jr. (6-1, 2.97 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, 81 strikeouts)

LINE: Astros -162, Athletics +143; over/under is 9 runs

BOTTOM LINE: Houston and Oakland will face off on Thursday.

The Astros are 28-16 in home games in 2020. Houston has slugged .444 this season. Yordan Alvarez leads the team with a mark of .553.

The Athletics have gone 22-17 away from home. Oakland has slugged .403 this season. Matt Olson leads the team with a mark of .557.

The Astros won the last meeting 4-3. Blake Taylor earned his second victory and Jose Altuve went 1-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs for Houston. Sean Manaea registered his sixth loss for Oakland.

TOP PERFORMERS: Altuve leads the Astros with 19 home runs and is batting .279.

Olson leads the Athletics with 39 extra base hits and is batting .284.

LAST 10 GAMES: Astros: 6-4, .218 batting average, 4.34 ERA, outscored by two runs

Athletics: 3-7, .203 batting average, 3.80 ERA, outscored by six runs

INJURIES: Astros: Justin Verlander: (elbow), Jose Urquidy: (arm), Austin Pruitt: (elbow), Enoli Paredes: (shoulder), Josh James: (hip), Kent Emanuel: (elbow), Pedro Baez: (right shoulder), Aledmys Diaz: (hand), Alex Bregman: (hamstring).

Athletics: Trevor Rosenthal: (chest), Mike Fiers: (right elbow), Mark Canha: (hip), Mitch Moreland: (undisclosed).

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