After a day off, the Astros today enter a brutal stretch of 20 straight games. However, except for the White Sox, the competition is mostly second division. But then again, the Astros play better against winning teams than losing teams, so, there’s that.
The Astros are two-and-a-half games behind the Oakland A’s for first place in the AL West. How do the A’s do it? They have scored fewer runs than the Astros and have allowed more. Their run differential is only 24 whereas the Astros have scored 86 more runs than the competition.
Here’s how. the A’s have won 12 one-run games.