Game Preview: Astros At Athletics

(AP) - Once again shining in April, Scott Kazmir will try to help the Oakland Athletics regain their footing after an inconsistent road trip.

Dallas Keuchel will try to get the Houston Astros back in the win column when two of the top left-handers in the majors face off in Friday night's series opener in Oakland.

Kazmir (2-0, 1.33 ERA) is 6-0 with a 1.84 ERA in this month the last two seasons, winning his first four decisions in a season for the first time last April. A scarcity of run support and Eric O'Flaherty's blown save Sunday kept him from winning each of his first three starts this year.

He was charged with two runs in 7 1-3 innings against Kansas City but O'Flaherty gave up a pair of RBI doubles in the eighth of a 4-2 defeat.

"(Kazmir) pitched great," manager Bob Melvin told MLB's official website. "To go in the eighth like that over 100 pitches, he certainly did his job, we just couldn't finish it off."

That defeat was part of a 5-5 trip for Oakland (8-9), and the A's alternated wins and losses in the final six games. They went 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position and fell 2-0 to the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday despite giving up one hit - Kole Calhoun's two-run homer.

"I can't remember the last time we got beat by one hit," Melvin said.

The Astros' four-game win streak was halted with a 3-2 defeat in Seattle on Wednesday.

Houston (8-7) went 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position after going 6 for 16 in the first two games of the series. The Astros totaled 13 runs in those wins.

Keuchel (2-0, 0.90) will try to build on a third impressive outing in as many starts this season, as he yielded two hits in six innings while striking out seven in a 4-0 win over the Angels on Saturday.

"It's so easy to watch Dallas Keuchel compete and put up zeros and just assume that he's functioning perfectly because you're so used to it," manager A.J. Hinch told MLB's official website. "He really goes through lineups and competes his way through."

Keuchel went 1-0 with a 1.99 ERA in his last three starts against Oakland in 2014.

Kazmir has gone 3-0 with a 1.79 ERA in his past six starts against the Astros. He yielded one run in six innings with eight strikeouts in an 8-1 win at Minute Maid Park on April 13.

Oakland took two of three in that series. The A's have won nine of the last 12 home meetings with the Astros.

Jose Altuve is batting .369 in a 26-game hit streak against Oakland, the longest active one in baseball against any opponent.

Updated April 24, 2015