First pitch: Friday, 10:05 p.m. ET
Line: Houston -115, Oakland +105, Total: 6

The AL West leading Houston Astros continue their road trip when they play the Oakland Athletics in the second of four games on Friday night.

It has been quite a season for the Astros as they’ve jumped straight from rebuilding mode to a playoff push thanks to a wealth of talent coming out of their system. It has put them 2.5-games ahead of the Angels in the division and they are 12-7 since the break despite losing three of the first four contests on this road trip. They were swept in Texas to start it off, losing two one-run games in the series, but got it back together on Thursday night; a one run victory of their own in Oakland in a 5-4 game over 10 frames. Since his return from injury, 3B Jed Lowrie (.300) has gone 6-for-20 (.400) with three doubles, three RBIs and six runs scored. The Athletics had been the team to beat in the division over the last few years, but their moves during the offseason did not pan out this time around and they have 13 games separating them from Houston. It doesn’t look to be getting any better as they are losers in 10 of the past 14 games; scoring 2.9 runs per contest over that stretch. They nearly grabbed a win in the opener of this series and had plenty of opportunities to do so, but went a putrid 1-for-10 with RISP after starter Aaron Brooks put up a big effort (7 IP, 1 ER, 4 H, 7 K). With the offense doing so poorly of late, no player on the roster with more than 20 at-bats since the break has hit better than .260 or has more than two homers. The pitching matchup will be a fun one to watch as LHP Dallas Keuchel (13-5, 2.35 ERA) takes the ball for the Astros and goes up against RHP Sonny Gray (11-4, 2.12 ERA) for the visitors. Although Houston has been huge when at home, they have not taken that play on the road where they are 23-31, but may have a chance to improve that record against this Athletics group which is a poor 24-34 at home in 2015. The teams have had plenty of recent exposure to each other and Oakland owns a record of 29-19 since the beginning of 2013 with 13 victories in 23 attempts at home. It has been a big turnaround this season, though, with the Astros taking 7-of-10 and all four games at Oakland thus far. Some trends to watch include that the Athletics are a meager 9-20 (.310) against left-handed starters this year as Houston is just 7-18 (.280) when on the road with a money line of -100 to -150 in the past two seasons. OF George Springer (Wrist) is the one omission due to injury for the visiting Astros while the Athletics have no significant injuries to their roster.

Keuchel was able to start the All-Star game this year after improving in each of his first four seasons in the big leagues. He has led this Houston staff as he currently owns career highs in K/9 (8.0), BB/9 (2.1) and HR/9 (0.46). While Keuchel can get his fair share of strikeouts, his game is to get it on the ground which he has done so successfully 63.6% of the time this year and is leaving 78.6% of runners on base when they do get on. The Astros have won in five of his last seven starts, all of which he went at least six innings as he posted three scoreless outings and a 57:7 K/BB ratio during that stretch. In his career against the Athletics, Keuchel is 2-2 (6-3 team record) with a 2.83 ERA (1.26 WHIP) and in his two starts against them in 2015 has pitched 16 innings with a mere one unearned run allowed on eight hits with eight strikeouts (4 walks). OF Coco Crisp (7-for-19, 3 doubles) has actually hit the lefty quite well when facing the Astros, while on the other hand, OF Billy Burns, 1B Billy Butler, OF Mark Canha, 3B Brett Lawrie and OF Josh Reddick have combined to go 4-for-53 (.075) with nine strikeouts in the matchup. Houston’s bullpen has been one of the best, going 20-17 with a 2.70 ERA (1.02 WHIP) and are 29-for-44 (66%) in save opportunities. Luke Gregerson (3.05 ERA, 22 saves) has five blown saves this season and blew one on Thursday behind two unearned runs, but eventually got a win with his team scoring the next inning.

Ross is a bright spot on his struggling ballclub and the 25-year-old is in the midst of a career season with all his peripherals proving his performance is legitimate. He is mowing down 7.7 K/9 with impressive control (2.4 BB/9) and has allowed a mere eight balls to leave the park in his 152.2 innings (0.47 HR/9). Just like his counterpart in this one, Ross is a groundball pitcher and gets the opposition to hit it on the ground 54.5% of the time while leaving 80.3% of runners on base. The Athletics have won in six of his last seven starts, allowing three or fewer runs in all of those team wins with two of them being complete game shutouts on the road. In his time against the Astros, Ross is 2-2 with a 2.67 ERA (1.26 WHIP), but did take a loss against them in his one start (5 IP, 3 ER, 7 H, 4 K) this year. He will not be looking forward to facing 2B Jose Altuve who is 5-for-14 against him in his career, but may have some reprieve when C Hank Conger (0-for-7, 3 K) or 1B Chris Carter (2-for-9) come to the dish. A big problem for Oakland has been their relievers as they are 11-22 with a 4.30 ERA (1.29 WHIP) while being successful in a mere 19-of-35 (54%) save attempts. Edward Mujica (4.13 ERA, 0 saves) is supposedly the current closer, but the team has not had a save since the break and Mujica failed to keep the tie game in the first game of this series, so his hold of the job may be short lived.