Its Monday, July 28 and the Nationals (43-62) are in Houston to open a series against a suddenly scuffling Astros team (60-46). Brad Lord is slated to take the mound for Washington against Framber Valdez for Houston.

Houston Astros GM Dana Brown says Isaac Paredes will have a second opinion on hamstring but it is worse than first thought.

BOTTOM LINE: The Houston Astros are looking to break their five-game home slide with a win against the Washington Nationals. Houston has a 33-23 record at home and a 60-46 record overall. The Astros have gone 33-7 in games when they scored at least five runs.

The A's (42-62) visit the Houston Astros (60-42) Thursday for the opener of a 4-game series. First pitch from Daikin Park in Houston is at 8:10 p.m. ET (MLB Network). Let's analyze BetMGM Sportsbook's MLB odds around the A's vs. Astros odds and make our expert MLB picks and predictions for the best bets.

Conner Weigman, a Texas A&M transfer and native Houstonian, is treating his offensive line in the most Houston way possible.

HOUSTON (AP) — Miguel Andujar and Shea Langeliers homered in the first inning, J.T. Ginn threw six shutout innings and the Athletics beat the Houston Astros 7-1 on Sunday to sweep the four-game series.

Starting third baseman Isaac Paredes (hamstring) is on the 10-day IL, but general manager Dana Brown said on Sunday that the injury is “a little bit more severe than we projected,” via The Athletic’s Chandler Rome. That could jeopardize Houston’s first-place status if it doesn’t acquire a replacement player by Thursday’s Trade Deadline.