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Astros Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, Carlos Correa

After going down to the wire the with the Angels last weekend and coming away with the series win, the Astros went into Monday's off-day sitting 5-4. That had them tied with Oakland atop the AL West division standings. In front of them stood a three-game series with the struggling 3-7 Diamondbacks, a series that the Astros teams of the last three years would have handily won, if not swept.

It looked like it would be one of those types of series after Tuesday's game, with the Astros beating up on Madison Bumgarner and winning the opener 8-2. Even three innings into Wednesday's game, where Houston had jumped ahead 4-0 and had Lance McCullers Jr. dealing on the mound, things felt (almost) comfortable. Then, the roof to Chase Field opened, and the air in Houston's sails was gone.

Collapse in the desert

In what seemed like a flash but also an inning that would never end, the Diamondbacks racked up nine runs to erase their four-run deficit and go up by five runs. Though the Astros would fight back along the way, it seemed like Arizona had the answers to knock Houston right back down into the dirt.

By the end of the night, a 14-7 loss had tied the series and put them 2.5 games behind the A's who were able to beat the Rangers to extend their winning streak to five games. Still, bad games come and go, so the Astros looked to rookie Brandon Bielak to provide a spark to get them back on track Thursday night in the series finale. Bielak did his part exceptionally well, providing five scoreless innings to put himself in line for his first win as a starter. Unfortunately, he'd watch from the dugout as his bullpen would relinquish the lead and his win. Then, later after Alex Bregman had come through with a go-ahead home run, he'd watch as Ryan Pressly would struggle in his second appearance of 2020 and give up the walk-off hit to Arizona to hand Houston the series loss.

Oakland awaits

Meanwhile, Oakland completed their sweep of the Rangers at home, moving their streak to six games and maintaining their 2.5 game advantage in the division. The performances so far this week would indicate that momentum favors Oakland going into the opener on Friday. With a sweep on either side, drastic changes to the AL West standings could be in store this weekend.

In both the 2018 and 2019 seasons, the A's finished second in the division to the Astros despite ending with a 97-65 record both years. Throw into the mix it was their teammate Mike Fiers who blew the whistle on the Astros sign-stealing, and the uncertainty of what their outcomes could have been in recent years, and there is inevitably a chip on Oakland's shoulder. Blood could be in the water for the A's to sniff out; however, it would be foolish to count the Astros out.

There's simply no time to panic

In my opinion, it's not a matter of IF those should be worried about the Astros, but rather a question of when would they have time to do so? This season is so compressed that each game bears much more weight than in a typical 162-game grind. A 60-game schedule means that it could be harder to observe and get caught up with long-term trends, which is a potential benefit for the Astros after their recent shortcomings. Instead, the focus is on going out and winning the game in front of you today, which is how the Astros can overcome Oakland and get back on track.

Sure, the A's have the momentum going into Friday, but you put these two teams into a one-game showdown, and you have to like Houston's chances. After going 3-for-4 on Thursday, coming just a triple shy of the cycle, it looked like Jose Altuve had shrugged off his early-season struggles and may have found his reliable swing again. Carlos Correa had an incredible series, going 6-for-11 in the three-game span, including a homer and was showing off his defensive prowess in the infield. In total, the Astros scored 19 runs in the series, proving that offense is not their issue.

The pitching staff needs to get their bearings

With the bats doing their parts to score runs and take or re-gain leads, Houston's pitching has been arguable the most volatile part of recent games. Yes, the Astros are without Justin Verlander and have a bullpen chock full of rookies, but there are few teams in the league right now that can currently say they have their pitching staff at 100%, either. There have definitely been bright spots among some of the younger arms, two of which are in the starting pitching matchups in Oakland this weekend:

Friday: HOU - Zack Greinke (0-0, 5.00 ERA) vs OAK - Chris Bassitt (1-0, 0.93 ERA)
Saturday: HOU - Framber Valdez (0-1, 2.53 ERA) vs OAK - Frankie Montas (1-1, 2.25 ERA)
Sunday: HOU - Cristian Javier (1-0, 1.42 ERA) vs OAK - Jesus Luzardo (0-0, 2.32 ERA)

Though Valdez has had ups and downs, he was incredibly impressive in his most recent appearance, where he came in for 6.1 innings out of the bullpen to help Houston overcome just three innings from their starter that day, Josh James. Whether or not that translates to a successful start, where he has been hit-or-miss in his career, will be seen on Saturday. Javier, though, will be making his fourth major-league appearance, and third start, on Sunday.

In his debut year, Javier has been fantastic, including a 5.2 inning, one-run start against the potent Dodgers, followed by six innings of one-run ball against the Diamondbacks. Over those two games, he's walked just two batters while striking out ten. If these three starting pitchers have their A-game against Oakland, and Houston's offense can keep scoring runs, then that will leave it up to the bullpen to do their job. But, that's been easier said than done.

As mentioned, the bullpen has been taken over by minor-league players getting their chance on the major-league team due to injuries and free-agent losses in the off-season. The one familiar face out there, Ryan Pressly, has a horrible 40.50 ERA after going 0.2 innings while allowing a run against the Angels this past weekend, then giving up the tying and winning runs on the walk-off in Arizona in the bottom of the ninth on Thursday, without recording an out.

Maybe Pressly needs time to re-adjust, and he gets back into mid-season form. Maybe Josh James' transition to the bullpen provides a spark. Maybe the Astros get Brad Peacock and Jose Urquidy back, and that shifts arms around for the better. Maybe Houston gets several long outings from starters to give these rookies a breather to better ramp-up to major-league opponents. Maybe Justin Verlander's injury isn't season-ending, and he comes back to save the day. To me, that's more "maybes" than I would feel comfortable with in a shortened season.

Yet, the Astros still find themselves in the AL West, a very winnable division if they can get and stay in front of the A's for the third-straight year. Also, they do have the looming return of Yordan Alvarez to strengthen their lineup further. So again, while the series in Arizona may have left a bad taste in their mouth, Houston should take it game by game, knowing that they still have the pieces to be one of the best teams, if they can find out how to organize those pieces into the winning formula.

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The Longhorns host Georgia on Saturday night. Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images.

By any measure, from the official statistics to the informal eye test, top-ranked Texas' defense has been dominant.

The Longhorns rank No. 1 in total defense and scoring defense. They are top 10 in first downs allowed, tackles for loss and passing yards. Much of that is built against opponents starting former walk-on quarterbacks ( Michigan ) and freshmen ( Mississippi State and Oklahoma.)

But the level of quarterback play Texas will face, in both talent and experience, is about to get much better over the second half of the season.

Texas hosts No. 5 Georgia on Saturday night in the first matchup of top five teams in Austin since 2006, before playing the next week at Vanderbilt. Bulldogs senior Carson Beck was a preseason first team Associated Press All-America pick, and standout Vanderbilt transfer Diego Pavia has carried the Commodores to a surprising 4-2 start, including a historic win over then-No. 1 Alabama.

Quite simply, Texas hasn't defended this caliber of quarterback all season.

Beck is a player on the doorstep of the NFL, Texas coach Steve Sarkisian said.

“There's nothing in the throw game (Beck) can't do,” Sarkisian said. “He's played enough football now, too. It's kind of hard to confuse guys when they've played that much football.”

Texas (6-0, 2-0 SEC) has allowed just one team to pass for more than 200 yards this season. Beck passed for 459 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions last week in a 41-31 win over Mississippi State. His 36 completions set a Georgia record.

Even when Beck struggled early in Georgia's loss to Alabama, he rallied the Bulldogs to a late fourth-quarter lead. He finished with 439 yards in the loss where Georgia's rally ended with an Alabama interception in the end zone in the final minute.

Sarkisian recruited Beck when the Texas coach was an assistant at Alabama. Beck had initially committed to the Crimson Tide before switching to Georgia.

Beck is 18-2 in his career as a starter, and 6-2 against top 20 opponents.

The Bulldogs (5-1, 3-1) will need another exceptional game from him Saturday. A second SEC loss could threaten any chance of playing for the SEC championship, and raise the alarms on the College Football Playoff as well.

Texas has all but overwhelmed opposing quarterbacks so far.

In last week's 34-3 thrashing of rival Oklahoma, the Longhorns sacked Sooners freshman quarterback Michael Hawkins Jr. five times, and held him to 27 yards on 20 carries. Texas allowed just 225 total yards.

Hawkins was the first Sooners freshman to start at quarterback against the Longhorns in the 120-year history of the rivalry and was quickly swallowed up by a relentless pass rush.

By the numbers, the Longhorns program is on pace for a historic season. Sarkisian has said his favorite stat is points allowed, which is not many.

Texas has surrendered only three touchdowns all season. Opponents have snatched four turnovers inside Texas territory, but none have produced points.

That ability to snuff momentum can drain an opponent, Sarkisian said.

“We're so composed as a defense,” Texas safety Michael Taaffe said. “We're so confident, that no matter what happens, everything is going to be alright.”

The only time Texas has trailed this season was a 3-0 early deficit against Oklahoma. Several Longhorns starters were still on the field when the Sooners' final drive stalled at the Texas 6-yard-line as the game ended.

The stars emerging for the Longhorns have been second-year linebacker Anthony Hill Jr. and freshman edge rusher Colin Simmons.

Hill leads the team in total tackles (42), sacks (4 1/2) and tackles for loss (8 1/2). His sideline-to-sideline speed and move this season from the edge to the middle of the Texas defense has drawn comparisons to former Longhorns All-American Derrick Johnson 20 years ago.

Simmons has four sacks and 7 1/2 tackles for losses, second on the team in both categories.

“Size, speed,” Georgia coach Kirby Smart said in summing up the Texas defense.

“They’re the complete package on defense," Smart said. "The consistency you watch them play with, it reminds me of some of our best teams here.”By any measure, from the official statistics to the informal eye test, top-ranked Texas' defense has been dominant.