2020-10-06 16:37:00 EDT
The Houston Astros and the Oakland A’s meet in game two of their best-of-five ALDS series in MLB action from Dodger Stadium on Tuesday afternoon.
The Houston Astros will look to build on their series-opening 10-5 win over Oakland on Monday. Carlos Correa had a pair of home runs, going 3 for 5 with a pair of solo homers. Jose Altuve went 2 for 4 with two RBIs while Alex Bregman added a solo home run as well. George Springer went 4 for 5 with a double and an RBI while Michael Brantley and Yuli Gurriel each had an RBI to cap off Houston’s scoring as a team in the win. Kyle Tucker went 2 for 5 at the dish while Martin Maldonado added a base hit as well in victory. Lance Mccullers Jr. threw four innings, allowing four runs on eight hits while striking out five over four innings, not factoring in the decision. Blake Taylor got the win in relief by tossing a shutout 5th innings to help lock down the win for Houston. Framber Valdez is expected to start here and was 5-3 with a 3.57 ERA and 76 strikeouts in the regular season. This will be Valdez’s second career start against Oakland.
The Oakland A’s will look to rebound after dropping the series opener on Monday. Khris Davis had a two-run home run while Matt Olson and Sean Murphy each had a solo homer. Mark Canha added an RBI as well to round out Oakland’s scoring as a team in the loss. Marcus Semien went 2 for 4 and Robbie Grossman had a double while Tommy La Stella added a base hit as well to cap off Oakland’s offense as a team in defeat. Chris Bassitt allowed three runs on nine hits while striking out four over four innings of work, not factoring in the decision. J.B. Wendelken took the loss in relief. Sean Manaea will start here and was 4-3 with a 4.50 ERA and 45 strikeouts this season. In his career, Manaea is 3-5 with a 3.27 ERA and 62 strikeouts against Houston.
Houston is 7-2 in their last 9 ALDS games and 7-0 in their last 7 playoff games as an underdog while the under is 5-1 in their last 6 games against a left-handed starter. Oakland is 45-20 in their last 65 division games and 2-6 in their last 8 playoff games while the over is 3-1-1 in their last 5 games overall.
The A’s to bounce back is definitely a tempting option as Oakland’s been a solid team to back all year long, especially with their backs against the wall. However, Houston’s played with a chip on their shoulder this whole time and it’s resulted in three wins in three games so far in the postseason. I’m not saying it’s completely sustainable, but the Astros have looked like a team on a mission in the early going and the only track record we have of Manaea in the ostseason is him getting batted around like last season. I’ll take my chances with the Astros in this one.
