Photo credit: @astros

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND — The Houston Astros downed the A’s 4-2 in the second game of the three-game series. The A’s had their ace, Sean Manaea, going for his fifth win of the season. That did not happen as the very talented Astros team sent Manaea to the showers in the sixth inning, and he had no choice but to absorb his fourth loss of the year.

Lance McCullers, who dominated the A’s when the Astros won 11-0 on April 29th. McCullers went just five innings, and the A’s could have made it closer, but they couldn’t get it done, and the Astros’ bullpen did its job as the A’s could not get anything done in the last four innings of the game.

The A’s put a run on the board in the bottom of the first without the benefit of a hit. Lance McCullers walked the A’s leadoff hitter Marcus Semien. Semien advanced to second on a wild pitch. With one out, Jed Lowrie hit a fly ball to deep right-field for the second out. Semien tagged up and went to third. With Khris Davis at bat, McCullers uncorked his second wild pitch of the inning and Semien slid in safely for the score. Davis doubled on the next pitch, but the A’s could do no more.

The Astros tied the game in the top of the second. With one out, Astros’ third baseman Alex Bregman slammed his third home run of the year over the wall in the right field wall. Manaea retired the next two hitters to end the inning.

The A’s regained the lead in the bottom of the third. Semien singled to start the rally. McCullers, who was having problems with his control, walked Matt Joyce and Jed Lowrie to load the bases with no out. Khris Davis lined out to deep right field. Astros’ right fielder George Springer made a nice running catch as the ball almost went over his head. Semien scored, and Joyce tagged and advanced to third. Matt Olson hit into a double play to end the inning. The A’s lead 2-1 after three.

Houston put two on the board in the top of the fifth. With two out, Manaea hit just grazed Brian McCann uniform with an inside pitch. The next hitter, Jake Marisnick, hitting a buck 51, doubled to put men on at second and third. Manaea now had to face the red-hot hitter George Springer. Springer doubled to drive in McCann and Marisnick. Springer now has eight hits in his last nine at-bats. The Astros lead 3-2 halfway through the fifth inning. The A’s Bruce Maxwell committed a blunder on the base paths that may have cost the team a chance to tie the game. Maxwell doubled to start the inning. Marcus Semien followed with a ground ball that squeezed into shallow left field. Maxwell hesitated as he didn’t know if the ball would be fielded and when it wasn’t, he took off for third. Maxwell, who is not a speed demon, was cut down when left fielder Marwyn Gonzalez hustled in to field the ball and threw Maxwell out as he was sliding into the base. Houston leads 3-2 after five innings.

The Astros tacked on another run in the sixth inning. With one out, Yuli Guriel doubled. Manaea retired Bregman for the second out. He now had to face the ever-dangerous Marwin Gonzalez. Gonzalez came through for Houston as he singled to left to drive in Guriel with the Astros’ fourth run of the night. A’s manager Bob Melvin trudged out to the mound and took the ball from Manaea and brought in rookie reliever Lou Trivino. Trivino gave up a hit but was able to get the third out without any further damage.

The Astros’ relievers’ Brad Peacock, Chris Devenski, and Ken Giles shit down the A’s offense to secure the win for Houston. The Astros beat the A’s 4-2.

Game Notes and Stats: There was a very emotional moment in the second inning when Stephen Piscotty came to bat. Piscotty, who lost his mother Gretchen to ALS on Sunday, decided to play in the last two games of the homestand and then go on bereavement leave when the A’s go on the 10-game road trip. Piscotty received an extremely warm, heartfelt reception from the fans. He was very touched by the show of support and tapped his heart before going to bat. He singled, and every one of the 9,764 fans in the stadium knew that that was for his mother.

With the win, the Astros moved back into a virtual tie for first place with the Los Angeles Angels. The A’s drop to 18-18. McCullers improves to 5-1 while Manaea is now 4-4. Ken Giles recorded his fourth save of the year.

Up Next: The final game of the three-game set will be played Wednesday afternoon at the Coliseum. Game time will be at 12:35 pm PT.