Photo credit: @Athletics

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s, who felt they should have beaten the Astros Tuesday night, rebounded from that ignominious loss and sent a message to the Houston-based team.

Their message? We are not the same guys that you beat eight times in the first nine games. We are a different team now, and we know that we can play with the big boys.  Just ask the Red Sox!

The A’s won the season series 4-2 and the Red Sox have the best record in baseball. The A’s have been playing well on the road, and their confidence has been building. They know that they are never out of any game, no matter what the score. They scored four runs in the ninth to tie Tuesday night’s game and took the lead in the 11th only to lose on a once-in-a-lifetime play.

Since the days when Tony LaRussa was the A’s skipper, the players have been to turn the page. Tony would tell them, “You can’t do anything about what happened yesterday. Forget what happened as today’s game is a new canvas.”

The young A’s did just that as they defeated Lance McCullers and the Astros by a score of 8-3. McCullers was making his fourth start of the year against the A’s. He owned a record of 3-0 and had a 1.89 ERA against the A’s. The A’s made a statement early in the game as they pounced on McCullers for three runs in the first and three more in the fourth. The hitting heroes for the A’s were Chad Pinder with a home run and Khris Davis with three RBIs.

With one out in the first inning, McCullers issued consecutive walks to Marcus Semien and Jed Lowrie. A’s DH, Khris Davis, extended his hitting streak to 13 with a double to drive Semien and Lowrie. Stephen Piscotty singled to send Davis to third, and Davis scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Matt Chapman to take a 3-0 lead.

The A’s tacked on three more runs in the top of the fourth. The rally started when McCullers hit Matt Chapman with a pitch. McCullers then walked Mark Canha. The next hitter, Chad Pinder, sent a McCullers pitch into the seat in left field to put the A’s ahead 6-0.

The Astros retaliated by scoring two in the bottom of the fourth. Alex Bregman continued his hot hitting with a single. AL MVP Jose Altuve followed with a single that sent Bregman to third. Altuve then stole second. Yuli Guriel drove in both runners with a single to right to make it a 6-2 game.

Astros’ first baseman Tyler White hit his first home run of the season in the fifth to inch his team a bit closer. The A’s got the run back in the top of the sixth. Former A’s pitcher Brad Peacock gave up a double to Marcus Semien. After retiring Jed Lowrie, Peacock could not get by Khris Davis. Davis hit a triple to deep center field to drive in Semien. Josh Phegley singled to right field in the top of the ninth to drive in the A’s eighth run of the game.

The A’s bullpen held the Astros scoreless after the fifth inning. Emilio Pagan allowed just one hit in two scoreless innings of work. Ryan Dull worked an inning, and Ryan Buchter pitched the ninth for Oakland. Oakland wins 8-3.

Game Notes: Chris Bassitt earned his second win of the year. He is now 2-3 and has a 3.38 ERA. He has won his last two starts. He pitched five innings and allowed three runs and five hits.

McCullers record dropped to 10-4. He worked just four innings and gave up six runs on four hits.

The A’s are now 4-2 on the road trip and are back to games over the .500 mark with a record of 52-41.

A’s right fielder Stephen Piscotty left the game in the fifth inning after he was hit by a pitch. The team confirmed that it was just a bruise.

Up Next: The A’s will conclude their road series against the Astros Thursday at 11:10 am PDT on the MLB Network.

Trevor Cahill will come off the 10-day DL and pitch for Oakland on Thursday. His record so far this season is 1-2 with a 2.77 ERA.

Cahill’s opponent will be Charlie Morton, who is 11-2 with a 2.77 ERA. Morton has won four of his last five starts.