The Houston Astros control their destiny on Sunday. They can clinch the division crown and a playoff berth by defeating the Athletics, as they hold the tiebreaker with the Rangers. Texas and Houston each have the same 80-81 record entering the final day of the regular season, and I am fired up to see how this race closes.
Peter Lambert is the scheduled starter for Houston Sunday. Lambert has been one of Houston’s better starting options in 2026, posting a 3.87 ERA through 28 starts spanning a combined 153.2 innings of work. His xERA supports him at 3.73, a mark that sits 66th percentile among MLB pitchers. The Athletics sit just 21st in wOBA with an 89 wRC+ in the last 30 days against right-handed pitching, and I expect Lambert to deliver some solid innings for the Astros in a must-win game.
The Athletics are rolling with a bullpen game to close out their regular season, rolling with Seth Johnson as the opener. We can expect a couple innings at most from the right-hander, as he has been used in that role pretty steadily this season. Brady Basso is expected to see work in this game as well, and the two combined arms will likely get them through what used to be a normal workload for a starter. The Athletics pitching staff is an underwhelming unit, and I expect the Astros to produce enough run support to clinch a playoff berth Sunday.
Astros vs Athletics prediction: Astros ML (-172) available at time of publishing. Playable to -175.
