by Jerry Feitelberg

AP photo: Oakland A’s Josh Reddick (center) gets the treatment from his teammates after his walk off single RBI in the tenth for the gamer for the A’s fourth straight win

OAKLAND–The Oakland A’s came back from a three-run deficit as they scored two in the seventh, one in the ninth and one in the tenth to defeat the Houston Astros 4-3. The A’s sent rookie Dillon Overton to the mound to start the game Tuesday night. Overton pitched into the seventh inning, but he would have been the losing pitcher had the A’s not rallied to win. Overton went six and a third innings. He allowed nine hits and three wins, and he received credit for a “quality start.” The Astros’ Dallas Keuchel also pitched very well. He went six and a third innings, and he allowed just two runs on five hits. The A’s bullpen allowed just two hits and no runs after the fifth inning while the A’s broke through against Houston’s All-Star close Will Harris to tie the game in the ninth.

The Astros struck first in the top of the third. With one out, A’s starter Dillon Overton gave up a single to Marwyn Gonzalez and a double to Jose Altuve.  The next hitter, Carlos Correa, hit a swinging bunt. Dillon made a terrific play as he fielded it and threw home to nail Gonzalez at the plate to keep the Astros off the board.   Dillon couldn’t keep the Astros at bay as Luis Valbuena singled to drive in Altuve.

The ‘Stros plated two more runs in the fifth. George Springer led off the frame with a booming fly ball to deep center that looked like it was ready to orbit the planet. With one out, the leading hitter in the AL, Jose Altuve, tripled off the center-field wall. Altuve scored on a sacrifice fly to put Houston ahead 3-0 in the middle of the fifth.

The A’s scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh. With one out, Billy Butler singled. Jake Smolinski doubled to deep right field but Butler, not having any speed, had to stop at third. Rookie third baseman, Astros’ manager A.J.Hinch removed Dallas Keuchel from the game and brought in Ken Giles to pitch. Ryon Healy  Greeted Giles with a double to drive in Butler and Smolinski. Giles retired the next two hitters to get out of the jam.

The A’s threatened to score in the eighth.They received two walks and had the benefit of a wild pitch to put men on at first and third with two out. Bob Melvin called on Josh Reddick to pinch-hit for Jake Smolinski. The Astros’ Luke Gregerson induced Reddick to fly out to left to end the inning.  ‘Stros sill lead 3-2 after eight.

The A’s tied the game in the bottom of the ninth. Stephen Vogt won a twelve-pitch battle with Astros’ closer Will Harris when he doubled to right-center. Coco followed with a blast to right to drive in Vogt. Coco probably made the biggest baserunning blunder of his life. He thought the ball went over the wall for a walk-off win for  Oakland. However, the ball was in play, and Crisp was just jogging the bases when the throw came in from the right fielder, and he was tagged out. The game is tied at three and we head to extra innings.

The A’s won the game in a walk-off. With two out, Marcus Semien singled to get the rally going. Semien stole second . Yonder Alonso walked to put men on at first and second with two out. Josh Reddick, who came into the game as a pinch-hitter in the eighth, singled to deep short to drive in Semien with the winning run.

Game Notes- The A’s have won four of their last five games since the resumption of play after the All-Star game break. The A’s announced that they recalled Dillon Overton and Daniel Coulombe from Nashville to replace Andrew Triggs and Tyler Ladendorf. Triggs was placed on the DL and Ladendorf was optioned back to Nashville.

The Line score for Oakland was four runs, eleven hits, and one error. Houston’s line was three runs, ten hits, and one error.

Game three will be played Wednesday afternoon at 12:30 pm at the Oakland Coliseum. Daniel Mengden will pitch for Oakland and the veteran righty Doug Fister will go for Houston.

Time of game was three hours and forty-one minutes, and 15,143 fans watched the A’s comeback to win.