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By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND — The Oakland A’s (34-32; fourth place in the AL West) start a three-game series with the World Champion Houston Astros on Tuesday night.

The Astros are currently in a dogfight with the Seattle Mariners for first place in the AL West. They are currently 42-25 and have one more loss than the M’s.

The Astros come to Oakland having won seven of the last 10 games. They will be sending three tough pitchers at the A’s. On Tuesday night, Lance McCullers Jr. will pitch for Houston. McCullers’ season record is 7-3, and his ERA is 3.94. McCullers has beaten the A’s twice this season and will be hoping to record his third win over them on Tuesday. In his two prior starts against the A’s he has allowed just two earned runs, four walks, and has struck out 10.

The A’s will counter with Houston native Daniel Mengden. Mengden had a terrific May but was pounded by the Texas Rangers in his last start. Mengden was tagged for four big home runs and six runs in just four innings of work.

On Wednesday, Astros’ Gerrit Cole will face the Green and Gold. Cole is having a terrific season with a record of 7-1 and a sparkling ERA of just 2.16.

The A’s Paul Blackburn will make his second start since coming off the DL. Blackburn is 1-0, and his ERA is 1.50. He went six innings and allowed just one run and three hits in recording the win over the Kansas City Royals. He threw 67 pitches and looked sharp.

Thursday’s game will feature Justin Verlander going for the Astros against the A’s Frankie Montas. Verlander, a former Cy Young Award winner and MVP with the Detroit Tigers, has a record of 8-2 and a 1.45 ERA.

The Astros are 14-5 in games that Verlander has started since he came to Houston from the Tigers last year. Montas has made three starts and won them all. He is 3-0 and has a 1.25 ERA. In three starts (and wins), Montas has allowed three runs in 2 2/3 innings of work.

The A’s pitchers will have their hands full trying to contain the Astros’ powerful lineup. Second baseman Jose Altuve is leading the league in hitting again. Shortstop Carlos Correa is a tough out. Alex Bregman at third, and Yuli Guriel round out the infield. George Springer, Josh Reddick, Jake Marisnick, or Marwyn Gonzalez will handle the outfield chores. Evan Gattis, who also doubles as a DH, Brian McCann, and former Athletic, Max Stassi are all guys that can hit and cause damage. The Astros’ bullpen is deep with Collin McHugh, Brad Peacock, Hector Rondon, Will Harris, and Tony Sipp seeing action. Chris Devenski and Ken Giles are the closers.

The A’s are just 1-5 against Houston this year. The A’s also have power up and down the lineup. Matt Chapman and Matt Olson are threats to go deep, and pitchers have to be careful not to make a mistake with their pitch selection. If they fail to locate the ball, Olson and Chapman will send the pitch into the seats. Jed Lowrie, who was hot early in the season, has cooled off a bit but is still a dangerous hitter. DH Khris Davis leads the A’s in homers and RBIs and is a very dangerous hitter. Davis can hit the ball out of any park. Chad Pinder, Mark Canha, Dustin Fowler, and Stephen Piscotty all have power.

Johnathan Lucroy and Josh Phegley are the catchers. Lucroy is a better contact hitter while Phegley has power but hasn’t played very much this season.

The Astros have had the advantage over the A’s the last couple of years. If the A’s are going to make progress, they will need to take the series from the Astros. That will be a tough task, but the A’s know they can play with the big boys. Just ask the Boston Red Sox.