The Houston Astros had a six game winning-streak snapped when they lost the opener of a three game set at Minute Maid Park against the Oakland Athletics 2-1 Monday. They came back strong with a 6-4 win last night though, and I'm backing the hosts to take the rubber-match this afternoon.

Here are my keys to the game:

1. Pitching - The A's will hand the ball to Jesse Hahn (1-3, 4.42 ERA) who has found it hard to live up to expectations after posting a 3.07 ERA over 14 outings in his debut season last year. He's allowed three runs or more in all but one of his seven starts on the year and has been particularly poor on the road where he's 1-2 with a 5.74 ERA. The Astros will counter with Dallas Keuchel (5-0, 1.87 ERA) who's already dominated the A's once this season when he hurled a complete game shutout at Oakland on April 24. I expect him to frustrate the A's home in Houston as well where he's 3-0 with a 1.67 ERA on the season.

2. Road Woes - The A's have lost six of their last seven away from home and are 7-24 in their last 31 games as a road underdog.

3. X-Factor - The current members of the A's are hitting a combined .207 over 116 at bats against Keuchel.

Selection: This is a play on the Houston Astros (9*)