A’s look to avoid double digit losing streak as they continue series with Astros

Oakland will carry a season-worst nine-game losing streak into Saturday’s game

Mired in a nine-game losing streak, the Oakland Athletics will try to notch their 11th win of the season Saturday when they continue a three-game series against the Houston Astros.

The nine-game streak is the longest of the season for the A’s who are 10-43 on the season. The stretch began back on May 17 with a 5-3 loss at home against the Arizona Diamondbacks. They then lost every game of a seven-game road trip before falling 5-2 at home Friday in the series opener. Oakland has been outscored 43-15 over that stretch and has a major league worst -187 run differential for the season.

The A’s haven’t announced a starter for Saturday’s game. Luis Medina is scheduled for the series finale on Sunday and Paul Blackburn is expected to make his season debut Monday against the Atlanta Braves. The San Francisco Chronicle’s Matt Kawahara reported Friday that Hogan Harris has a locker in the clubhouse, although no roster move has been made to add him to the active roster yet. Harris last pitched on May 21 for Las Vegas and would be an option for Saturday in some capacity.

Oakland’s offense will face another tall task in Saturday’s game against Framber Valdez, who tossed a complete game shutout against them last week in Houston. Valdez allowed just four hits and struck out seven while throwing 104 pitches. A double by Esteury Ruiz was the only extra-base hit that Valdez allowed.

The A’s managed just five hits in Friday’s 5-2 loss. Seth Brown accounted for both of their runs with a two-run home run in the seventh. That was Brown’s second homer in as many days and he is 4-for-16 since returning from the injured list.

Game Info

Game Date/Time: Saturday, May 27, 1:07 p.m. PDT

Location: Oakland Coliseum, Oakland California

TV: NBCSCA

Streaming: MLB.tv

Radio: A’s Cast, Bloomberg 960 AM / 103.7 HD2