Seattle at Houston

The Houston Astros looked to be stretching out their lead in the AL West, but their recent play has been perhaps their worst of the season. Houston will take the field having won just seven of their last 17 games. They are coming off a four-game series vs. the lowly Royals where they had to salvage the last game to avoid being swept. They have their work cut out for them as Yusei Kikuchi is on fire for Seattle. He has won his last three starts vs. big offenses in the Yankees, Rays, and Blue Jays. Those three teams managed a total of five runs in the three games. The Mariners are closing in and are just 3.5 games behind Oakland and 5.5 behind Houston in the suddenly hotly contested AL West. Play Seattle behind Kikuchi in this one.