Houston at Oakland

Oakland finally won a postseason series and now the Athletics face the Astros, who lost seven of the 10 meetings this season, including four of five in a five-game series at Oakland in early September. Chris Bassitt is the expected starter for Oakland and he is 3-2 with a 3.53 ERA in nine appearances against Houston in his career. Bassitt finished the regular season 5-2 with a 2.29 ERA and he allowed only two earned runs his last 33 and 2/3 innings. The Athletics have each of his last five starts and the right-hander pitched six shutout innings versus Houston on Sept. 7. Lance McCullers Jr. is the likely starter for Houston, and he was 3-3 with a 3.93 ERA this year. Oakland is 45-20 its last 65 games versus AL West teams, and the Astros are 5-13 their last 18 games as underdogs. Take the Athletics.