This is a 10* on OAKLAND

Division rivals Houston and Oakland meet in this best of five LDS. Obviously, the teams are very familiar with one another and there’s some bad blood. The A’s went 7-3 against the Astros in the regular season, 6-1 at home, but that latter record really doesn’t matter now as this series is being contested in Los Angeles. Still, the fact the A’s beat the Astros in 7 of 10 head to head matchups remains relevant. They were the better team all year as they won the AL West and had a much better run differential than Houston. Chris Bassitt will get the Game 1 nod for the A’s after a great start in the last round against the White Sox. Bassitt went 7 innings and allowed just one run as he improved his team start record this year to 9-3. He has 2.19 ERA and 1.143 WHIP. For Houston, Lance McCullers got the surprising call over Zack Greinke and we think that’ll end up being a mistake. McCullers had an 0-4 TSR in September (did not pitch against the Twins) and did not win any of his six starts away from home during the regular season (7.33 ERA, 1.71 WHIP). Play on OAKLAND

AAA