HOUSTON -- Oakland Athletics rookie right-hander Daniel Mengden, a Houston native drafted by his hometown franchise, will get an opportunity to show the Astros what theyre missing Friday at Minute Maid Park.Mengden (1-4, 3.48 ERA) will make his first career start against the organization that selected him in the fourth round of the 2014 draft. Mengden was packaged along with catcher Jacob Nottingham in the deal that sent veteran left-hander Scott Kazmir to Houston on July 23, 2015.Selected from Triple-A Nashville on June 11, Mengden will make his sixth start of the career. His 31 strikeouts are tied for second in franchise history (since 1913) for the most by a pitcher over his first five appearances (Tim Hudson, 33 in 1999). Mengden, a product of nearby Texas A&M, began the season at Double-A Midland and finished 2-0 with a 0.78 ERA before his promotion to Nashville on May 1.With the Sounds, Mengden went 3-1 with a 1.39 ERA in seven starts. His ERA was the sixth-lowest in the minors at the time of his promotion.And while Mengden will get the first crack at helping Oakland (37-49) make it two in a row over the Astros following the Athletics 3-1 win on Friday night, the Oakland bullpen will also play a key role.Right-handers John Axford, Ryan Dull and Ryan Madson combined to work three perfect innings in the series opener, with Axford first relieving lefty Ken Hill and notching two strikeouts in the seventh inning. Axford had struggled of late, blowing two saves while posting an 18.00 ERA over his last six appearances.That was great to see, Athletics manager Bob Melvin. Weve seen now how effective he can be. Hes gone through a little bit of a tough stretch, obviously. I think looking at his history hes had some stretches through the course of the season where he hasnt been as effective and he works hard to get through it, but I think this was a big game for him to pitch in a close game like that, get a 1-2-3 inning. He looked good.Right-hander Collin McHugh (5-6, 4.50 ERA) will make his 18th start of the season for the Astros. He allowed four runs on five hits and two walks in 5 1/3 innings in his lone appearance against the Athletics this season but did not factor in the decision. McHugh is 4-1 with a 3.23 ERA in his career against the Athletics, a mark that includes six starts.While the Astros (46-40) will get an opportunity to improve to 12 games over .500 against right-handed starters, they fell to 11-16 against southpaw starters, a surprising record given the right-handed presence of George Springer, Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa in their lineup.We can certainly hit left-handed pitching, Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. Weve got guys who can do it. Weve got a few guys hitting under their career norms, and thats never good. Halfway through the season, I dont think we can declare that we cant hit lefties. I think weve got some left-handed pitchers we arent racing up to the batters box to face. But clearly, its been a touch of a struggle for us against that side. Cheap Shoes UK 2020 . -- Playing time has been limited for Maxim Tissot this season, so the Montreal Impact defender made the most of his first scoring opportunity on Saturday. Shoes UK Online Cheap .com) - Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray and Roger Federer were easy first-round winners Tuesday at the Australian Open. https://www.shoesukonline.com/ .Y. - New York City has been selected to host the NBA All-Star weekend in 2015, with the game played at Madison Square Garden and the slam dunk contest and other skills events held at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Fake Shoes UK . Takahashi, who had a 10-point lead after the short program, received 268.31 points after the free skate to finish 15 points ahead of second-place Nobunari Oda. Wholesale Shoes UK Free Shipping . Hargreaves began his career in 2008 with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and has played with the Edmonton Eskimos and last season with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. IRVINE, Calif. -- Jaron Martin had four 3-pointers and a career-high 24 points and UC Irvine beat South Dakota State 73-58 in the opening game of the Sanford Pentagon Showcase on Monday night.The Anteaters (1-1) scored the first eight points, never trailed and maintained a double-digit lead throughout the second half.Martin finished 4 of 9 from 3-point range and 10 of 19 overall from the field. Jonathan Galloway grabbed 14 boards and blocked four shots -- both career highs.After the Jackrabbbits (0-2) closed to 52-40, UC Irvine had a 17-5 run to build its largest lead at 69-45.ddddddddddddSouth Dakota tied it twice in the first half but the Anteaters had a 10-0 run to pull away.Skyler Flatten had 12 points and Reed Tellinghuisen scored 11. South Dakota State shot 28.8 percent (17 of 59) from the field and 16.7 percent (5 of 30) on 3-point attempts. ' ' '