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Astros' ace hopes for a return to form against the A's

Jun 12, 2007 - 2:05 PM Oakland (34-28) at Houston (26-37) 8:05 pm EDT

HOUSTON (Ticker) -- Roy Oswalt is one of the fiercest competitors in baseball. Unfortunately, that competitive spirit has not been translating to wins lately.

Oswalt will take his sixth shot at his seventh win of the season on Tuesday when the Houston Astros host the Oakland Athletics.

The 29-year-old righthander had suffered from a lack of run support in previous seasons as the Astros struggled to put together a dominant offense. During his recent lack of success, however, run support has rarely been the problem.

Oswalt (6-4, 3.38 ERA) has pitched to a 3.82 ERA during the stretch, but has allowed 47 baserunners in his 33 innings, and yielded four earned runs or more three times.

The A's will counter with another of their converted-reliever projects, Joe Kennedy (2-4, 3.23). The veteran lefthander, like the rest of the Oakland staff, has exceeded expectations this season.

Kennedy has had just one start this season in which he has yielded more than three earned runs. He beat the Boston Red Sox in his last start, holding their high-powered offense to just two runs and seven hits over seven frames.

Oakland is hanging in the race in the American League West because Kennedy, Lenny DiNardo and Chad Gaudin have all made seemless transitions from the bullpen to the rotation.