Seattle at Houston

Seattle was a team surprising everyone as they rattled off 9 of 10, but have come back down to Earth, to drop four straight. The Astros have followed their big losing streak and have now won 5 of 9. It is rare to get Oswalt pitching at home without having to give up some serious chalk. We now get an opportunity to get him at a reasonably low price against a team that has lost four straight and struggling offensively. The M's have scored just 11 runs in their last 4 games. Washburn has had some control issues walking five in his last start and his pitch counts have been getting high fast, and has lasted just 6, 4.2, 3.2 innings in his last three starts. That has exposed the weakness of the M's as their middle relief has allowed 10 additional runs in his last three starts. We like Oswalt to pitch a gem vs. an M's team struggling at the plate.