Ramon Laureano neither forgives nor forgets
It is safe to say that Ramon Laureano is not a fan of the Houston Astros. Even if we remove AstroGate from the equation, the Oakland A’s center fielder and Houston have had problems, beginning with Astros’ pitching using him for target practice. It reached a boiling point when hitting coach Alex Cintron ran his mouth, prompting Laureano to charge the dugout to fight the Astros singlehandedly.
That moment is engrained in everyone’s mind. Laureano became a hero to the baseball universe outside the Houston area, someone willing to give the Astros their comeuppance. And one has to imagine that Laureano himself did not forget those moments, or that incident, potentially circling those upcoming games on the calendar.
Ramon Laureano punishes Astros on Tuesday night
It seems clear that Laureano has neither forgiven nor forgotten what happened in the past. Heading into Tuesday, he had feasted on Astros’ pitching, with six hits in 21 plate appearances. He had collected a double, triple, and homer in that time while stealing two bases. Laureano has been a one man wrecking crew.
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That continued on Tuesday. He had started to break out of a slump with a four game hitting streak entering the series against Houston, but it took those Astros uniforms in the opposing dugout for him to truly break out. Laureano was 2-3 with three RBI and a walk, with all of those runs making a difference in the game.
He hit two homers on Tuesday, the first tying the game at 1-1, and the second accounting for Oakland’s second run of the game. Although his bat was quiet from that point, Laureano was up again with runners on first and third and one out in the bottom of the ninth. That time, he hit a fly ball to deep center, plating Mark Canha with the winning run.
Every victory is sweet. That is especially the case when those victories come against a division rival. For Laureano and the A’s, this series against Houston means a bit more, especially with Oakland clinging to a small lead in the AL West and their history.
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Ramon Laureano was able to get some revenge on the Houston Astros on Tuesday. His big game, and the game winning RBI, had to be that much sweeter.