Game Thread #9: A's at Astros

Sixth time the charm against Houston?

The Oakland A’s have lost their first five meetings with the AL West division rival Houston Astros so far this season, and they’ll go for their sixth try on Friday.

This time it’ll be Sean Manaea on the mound for Oakland. The lefty faced Houston once already and got knocked around for five runs without getting out of the 5th inning, including homers by lefty batters Kyle Tucker and Jason Castro, though Castro isn’t in the lineup tonight.

The A’s get another crack at Lance McCullers, who kept them quiet for five innings last Saturday but did give up some hard contact along the way (avg exit velocity of 96.4 mph).

The green and gold are without DH Mitch Moreland, who’s next in line for the season-opening injury bug. He has “a little hamstring issue,” reports Shayna Rubin of the Mercury News, though he’s available off the bench if needed. The A’s have scored only 19 runs in their first eight games, but there are plenty of signs for hope that a breakout is coming any day now.

A’s lineup (away)

1. LF Mark Canha (R)
2. CF Ramon Laureano (R)
3. 2B Jed Lowrie (S)
4. 1B Matt Olson (L)
5. 3B Matt Chapman (R)
6. RF Stephen Piscotty (R)
7. DH Seth Brown (L)
8. SS Elvis Andrus (R)
9. C Aramis Garcia (R)

• LHP Sean Manaea

Brownie gets his chance!

Astros lineup (home)

1. 2B Jose Altuve (R)
2. LF Michael Brantley (L)
3. 3B Alex Bregman (R)
4. DH Yordan Alvarez (L)
5. 1B Yuli Gurriel (R)
6. SS Carlos Correa (R)
7. RF Kyle Tucker (L)
8. CF Myles Straw (R)
9. C Martin Maldonado (R)

• RHP Lance McCullers

Let’s Go Oakland!

How To Watch

• Date: Friday, April 9
• Time: 5:10 p.m. PT
• TV (local): NBC Sports California
• Radio: 960 AM (more listings here)
• Streaming (watch): WatchESPN
• Streaming (listen): A’s Cast