A's host Astros in matchup of hot pitchers

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(TSX / STATS) -- OAKLAND, Calif. -- Based on the pitching matchup, runs could be scarce Wednesday night when the Oakland Athletics and Houston Astros meet in the third contest of their four-game series at the Oakland Coliseum.

A's left-hander Sean Manaea (6-3, 4.01 ERA) and Astros righty Mike Fiers (4-2, 4.00) are on hot streaks.

Manaea is 5-0 with 2.84 ERA in his past six starts and is on a career-high five-game winning streak. Fiers is 3-0 with a 1.78 ERA over his past four starts.

Fiers was sent to the bullpen May 27, but one day later he returned to the rotation when right-hander Charlie Morton went on the disabled list. Fiers hasn't squandered his reprieve.

"His curveball has gotten a little bit better," Astros manager A.J.Hinch said Tuesday after Houston's 8-4 victory, its eighth straight win at the Coliseum. "He's lowered his arm slot a touch. His fastball command's gotten better. He's pitched ahead a little bit better. All across the board he's done something a little bit better than he had at the beginning of the year.

"And he's always had stretches in his career where he's pitched pretty well. This is not a surprise for us, but he really needed to put it together. He's coming out of the rotation at one point, then he's back in the rotation and has rattled off arguably our best stretch of starts, outside of Dallas (Keuchel) than anybody on our team."

In his last start Friday, he allowed one run on five hits over seven innings and got a no-decision in a 2-1 loss to the Boston Red Sox.

"I was locked in all game," Fiers said after his start. "I felt really good. Just another game of getting ahead in the count and being the aggressor. Not letting these guys get in too many hitters' counts and putting them away as early as you can and not try to go deep into the at-bat."

Manaea, who is 3-0 in six starts at home, is coming off his roughest outing in his past six starts. He had a no-decision in Oakland's 7-6 victory against the Yankees on Friday. He gave up five runs on eight hits over six innings with seven strikeouts and two walks.

Manaea has spent much of his time since his last start honing his slider.

"It's just been really inconsistent lately," Manaea said. "So I took it to the bullpen (Sunday) and it seemed to be working out a lot better than it had been. Just switched up a couple things. Changeup and fastball have been pretty decent. So just trying to get the slider in there, just be able to throw it for strikes and get a swing and miss, be a swing-and-miss pitch."

Manaea has a 1.71 ERA and .143 opponents batting average in five career starts against Houston but is 0-1. In his only start against Houston this season on April 15 at the Coliseum, he gave up two runs (one earned) on no hits over five innings but got a no-decision in a 10-6 loss. He struck out six but walked five.

"The Astros are a really good ballclub, especially their offense," Manaea said. "They got a lot of guys up and down the lineup that can swing, hit for power, and they got some speed, too."

Fiers is still searching for his first career victory against Oakland. He is 0-2 with a 4.32 ERA in six career starts vs. the A's. The last time he face Oakland, Fiers allowed three runs (one earned) on eight hits over five innings and got a no-decision in a 4-3 victory in Houston on Aug. 31, 2016.

This year, Fiers has helped solidify a rotation that has three starters -- Keuchel, Morton and Lance McCullers Jr. -- on the disabled list.

"We needed it, no doubt," Hinch said. "It was a time when the rotation had a lot of questions with injuries and some new kids coming up from the minors that hadn't made big league starts before. It was very important for Mike to step up and really solidify his spot."