Oakland @ Houston preview

Last Meeting ( Jul 11, 2018 ) Oakland 8, Houston 3

The Oakland Athletics attempt to extend their series unbeaten streak to eight when they visit the American League West-leading Houston Astros on Thursday afternoon for the finale of their four-game set. Khris Davis knocked in three runs and extended his hitting streak to a career-high 13 contests as the Athletics, who went 6-0-1 in their previous seven series, earned an 8-3 victory on Wednesday - their second in the set.

Oakland, which has won 12 of its last 15 games, is just 3-9 against the Astros this year but an impressive 28-20 on the road after getting a three-run homer from Chad Pinder on Wednesday that contributed to a 6-0 lead. Trevor Cahill will try to clinch a series victory for the Athletics on Thursday as he takes the mound opposite Houston’s Charlie Morton, who has limited opponents to a .199 batting average this season. The Astros dropped to 7-3 in July with Wednesday’s loss and could be without the versatile Marwin Gonzalez, who is day-to-day after sitting out the setback with wrist and elbow injuries. Reigning AL MVP Jose Altuve (11-for-33) and Yuli Gurriel (12-for-30) bring eight-game hitting streaks into the series finale for Houston, which is 30-19 at home this season.

TV: 2:10 p.m. ET, MLB Network, AT&T SportsNet-Southwest (Houston)

PITCHING MATCHUP: Athletics RH Trevor Cahill (1-2, 2.77 ERA) vs. Astros RH Charlie Morton (11-2, 2.83)

Cahill (Achilles) is expected to come off the disabled list to make his first start since June 2, when he yielded four runs over 4 2/3 innings of a no-decision at Kansas City. The 30-year-old Californian has recorded five quality starts in his eight outings this year, registering 47 strikeouts and 11 walks over 48 2/3 frames. One of those quality starts came in Houston on April 29, when he permitted three earned runs over six innings of an 8-4 loss that dropped him to 1-1 lifetime against the Astros.

Morton managed to post his 11th victory on Saturday despite allowing five runs over 5 2/3 innings against the Chicago White Sox. The 34-year-old native of New Jersey had strung together four straight quality starts before that outing and has totaled 13 in 18 games this year. Davis is 3-for-11 with a pair of homers against Morton, who is 1-1 with a 4.50 ERA in two career outings versus Oakland and 8-1 with a 2.66 mark in 11 starts at home this season.

WALK-OFFS

1. Houston 3B Alex Bregman is 5-for-13 with two solo homers in the series and has matched his career high with 19 blasts this year.

2. Oakland OF Stephen Piscotty, who has homered in four of his last five games, left Wednesday’s contest with a wrist contusion suffered when he was hit by a pitch.

3. Astros DH Evan Gattis, who leads the team with 62 RBIs, is hitless in his last 14 at-bats.

PREDICTION: Astros 5, Athletics 2