Oakland A’s take two of three from Astros in weekend series

In a battle of AL West rivals, the Oakland A’s (3-7) took two of three from the Houston Astros (6-3) in an important early-season battle of the division.

After a rough stretch of games between the Astros and Dodgers, the Oakland A’s were 1-6 and in desperate need of momentum change.

Game 1: Houston 6, Oakland 2

The Athletics fell in game one on a three-run rally from Houston in the bottom of the sixth that proved too much to overcome.

Cole Irvin started for Oakland and pitched well into the bottom of the sixth having only surrendered two runs prior before disaster struck.

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Yordan Alvarez hit a solo bomb with one out to make it 3-0. Irvin walked Carlos Correa before Bob Melvin brought in J.B. Wendelken.  Yuli Gurriel popped out to make it two outs, and possibly gave Oakland some optimism the damage may be limited to one.

The optimism quickly faded as Kyle Tucker doubled another run home to swell the lead to 4-0 . Myles Straw drove Tucker home with a single that extended the lead to a daunting 5-0 before getting out of the inning.

In the bottom of the seventh Jose Altuve led off with a solo shot that made the lead 6-0.

Oakland rallied in the top of the ninth with two runs, but did not chip any further into the lead as they dropped game one Thursday night.

The A’s offense stalled throughout the game as they mustered six hits, three of which in the ninth-inning rally.

Irvin surrendered four earned runs on five hits one walk and three strikeouts on 5.1 innings pitched.

Game 2: Oakland 6, Houston 2

Oakland thwarted Houston behind two late rallies Friday evening to even the series at one.

The Oakland A’s led off with a home run from Jed Lowrie to make it 1-0 in the top of the fourth inning. In the bottom of the fourth,  Sean Manaea punched out Alvarez before surrendering a walk to Gurriel and a single to Correa. Tucker promptly grounded out to tie the game at 1-1.

Neither team pushed across another run until late in the game when the A’s rallied in the top of the eighth inning.

Mark Canha led off with a single, while Ramon Laureano struck out, Lowrie soon slapped a ball to left field to put runners on first and second.  With one out, Matt Olson rocketed a home run in the right field bleachers to make it 4-1.

The A’s tacked on two more in the top of the ninth. Elvis Andrus led off with a single before Aramis Garcia bunted him over to second base. However, the sacrifice was not necessary as Canha belted a home run to make it 6-1.

In the bottom of the ninth the Astros managed only one run to make it 6-2, the eventual final as Oakland evened the series.

Game 3: Oakland 7, Houston 3

The A’s won the deciding game 7-3 on Saturday behind an incredible pitching performance by Frankie Montas.

Jose Urquidy and Montas dueled for three innings of no-run ball, but it was the A’s that busted through in the top of the fourth inning with two runs to take the lead. Lowrie led off with a single, followed by a Laureano single before Olson drove in one run. With two outs in the inning, Sean Murphy singled to score another run.

After a scoreless bottom of the fourth, Oakland scored another two via homerun from Laureano with two outs to push the lead 4-0 in the A’s favor.

Montas tossed one-two-three innings in the bottom of the fifth and sixth respectively.

Tucker hit a leadoff home run to make it 6-1 in the bottom of the seventh, which chased Montas out. Sergio Romo came on and hit the first batter he faced before getting groundout and strikeout. With two outs and a runner on second, Altuve doubled home another run to shrink it to 6-2. Michael Brantley tripled to make 6-3.

Seth Brown hit his first career home run in the top of the eighth to make it 7-3 A’s, which was the eventual final as Oakland won the series against a stout Houston team.

With this important weekend-series win, Oakland rides high into a two-game series with the Arizona D-backs before a four-game home series against the Detroit Tigers.

For coverage of both those series and all things Oakland A’s, run over to White Cleat Beat!