Oakland A’s manager Mark Kotsay is hoping for a good road trip starting Fri Jul 15, 2022 at Minute Field in Houston against the Houston Astros (San Francisco Chronicle file photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s meet the Houston Astros for three games starting Friday night at Minute Maid Park in Houston. The A’s and Astros just concluded a three-game series last week in Oakland. The Astros won two out of three in that series.

The A’s are off on Thursday. The Astros play the LA Angels on Thursday before returning home to face the A’s. The A’s are off three days for the annual All-Star game.

The A’s will start the second half of the season with a doubleheader against the Detroit Tigers on July 21st at the Oakland Coliseum. Then it’s the Texas Rangers, who the A’s just played the last three days, will be in Oakland for three Jul 22-24, and the Astros will be on hand for three more starting Jul 25-27th to close out the homestand.

The Astros have the best record in the AL West division. They are 57-30 and lead the second-place Seattle Mariners by eleven games. The A’s are in last place with a record of 30-60. The A’s are on pace to lose 108 games. Oakland has not had a season this bad since 1979.

The Astros have gone to the World Series in 2017, 2019, and 2021. They won the World Series crown in 2017. The Astros have a talented roster and show no signs of slowing down. The Astros have a very potent offense.

There are many familiar names in their lineup. Former AL MVP Jose Altuve leads the team. Other plays that can cause damage are third baseman Alex Bregman, rookie shortstop Jeremy Pena, first baseman Yuli Guriel, and utility player Aledmys Diaz.

The Astros’ star left fielder Michael Brantley is on the 10-day-IL. Chas McCormick or Jose Siri will fill in for Brantley. Jake Meyers will be in center field. Right fielder Kyle Tucker has killed the A’s in the past. Tucker will be going to the All-Star game as a reserve outfielder.

Houston’s Yordan Alvarez was also selected as an All-Star. Alvarez will not be able to DH for Houston in the series against the A’s as he is on the 10-day IL. Alvarez is hitting .306 with 26 home runs and 60 RBIs.

The Astros have not announced their pitching selections for the three-game series. The A’s announced that lefty Cole Irvin would pitch for Oakland Friday night. Irvin is 3-7 with an ERA of 3.31. Irvin has pitched well lately. The A’s offense has not given Irvin much support this season. The pitchers for the games on Saturday and Sunday have not been announced.

The A’s would love to win a series on the road. It will not be easy going against one of the best teams in baseball. If the A’s could take two out of three from Houston over the weekend, it could be quite a feather in the cap of manager Mark Kotsay’s.