The Oakland A’s Chris Bassitt who went seven innings of seven hit shutout ball against the Houston Astros on Mon Sep 7th at the Oakland Coliseum (AP News photo)

Houston 0 7 0

Oakland 6 8 0

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–Labor Day, the traditional end of summer, when men put away their straw hats and women stopped wearing white, when 16 teams in two leagues, stretching east to west from Boston to St. Louis and north to south from the hub to the nation’s capital, having survived the dog days of April, expanded their rosters and settled down for one last month of their 154 game season.

We lived in a baseball-centric country, and those who didn’t go to a game either listened to one on their portable radios or were playing softball at a Labor Day picnic.

That was then, or at least an idealized picture of what it was like then. This is now. We’re in a record-breaking heat wave, and those of us lucky enough not to have been displaced by the wild fires that accompany it have to shelter in place, our noses itching and our eyes teary. from the acrid air we breathe.

Major league baseball is playing the last month of its 60 game schedule in front of empty houses, and the two teams locked in a tight duel for its American League Western Division pennant are the Houston Astros and the Oakland Athletics. Indeed, they are the only two teams in the AL West with winning records, with the 23-14 A’s leading the 21-19 ‘strop by three and a half games as they entered their five game in four days series at 6:20 this evening.

Although the day’s oppressive heat had given way to a pleasant breeze by game time, the rivalry between tonight’s antagonists remained heated. The A’s are one of the many teams who feel they were cheated out of a deserved championship by Houston’s sign stealing abuse of modern technology.

The Astros resent the A’s Mike Fiers’ violation of baseball’s unwritten law against revealing team secrets. Tension between the teams reached a climax during the A’s last trip to Houston when the Astro coach Alex Cintrón goaded Ramón Laureano from the dugout to charge him, precipitating a near brawl that violated all sorts of anti-covid protocols and resulted in Laureano’s four game suspension that, tacked on to the contest postponed because of Daniel Mengden’s positive lab results, is one of the reasons for Oakland’s recent lack luster performance.

Adding to the tenuousness of the team’s grip on first place are injuries to Marcus Semien, who has been out of action since the first games of the double header in Houston on August 22 with with a sore left side, wasn’t sufficiently recovered to start tonight’s contest, and his companion on the left side of the infield, platinum glover Matt Chapman, mired in a hitting slump, strained his right hip in yesterday’s loss to San Diego, and is out of combat, at least for tonight Vimael Machín and La Stella, respectively, started in their at their positions, with Tony Kemp at second.

Houston’s infield has its own problems after being swept by the Angels in a four game series in Anaheim. Some of those problems are health related. José Altuve, the stellar second sacker (who was discovered by A’s third base coach Al Pedrique). Alex Bregman, Chapman’s closest competitor for golden glover at the hot corner, and pitcher Lance McCullers, Jr., still are on the injured list. And ex-Oakland fan favorite Josh Reddick, nursing a sore elbow, was considered day-to-day but was in tonight’s line up as designated hitter.

The A’s took an early lead against the Astros’ Cristián Javier (4-1, 3.35) when Robbie Grossman led off the bottom of the second with a single to left, stole second, and, after Stephen Piscotty struck out, scored on Kemp’s double to right center. Kemp tried to pilfer third and was called out on a close play, a decision that the A’s appealled.

He looked safe to me but not to the umpire crew viewing replays in New York. Sean Murphy didn’t let that keep him from blasting a 93 mph four seamer from Javier 404 feet overthe dead center field fence to give Oakland a 2-0 lead.

That was all the A´s managed to score against Javier, who left after finishing the fifth. Those three hits and two runs in the second were the only ones he allowed, although he did surrender three walks and hit Ramón Laureano with a pitch. Of the 94 of those he threw, 50 for strikes.

Oakland tacked on a tally against Andre Scrubb in the sixth on Murphy’s walk,La Stella’s single to right that advanced him to third, and Laureano’s foul sacrifice fly to right.

Chris Bassitt, the A’s starting pitcher, has had his good days and his bad days this season. He had a very good one in Houston on August 7, when he held the Astros to one earned run in seven innings as the A’s won 3-2. He showing against them in the Coliseium on the 29th wasn’t as effective. The A’s lost 4-2, and Bassitt surrendered four earned runs in six frames.

Tonight, he pitched himself in and out of trouble, leaving two men on base in the each of the first and third and one on in the second and sixth. Astro batters reached deep into the warning track in the fourth and six innings and twice in the seventh.

But no one scored on him in his seven innings of work, over whih he scattered as many hits, struck out four and gave up no walk, bringing his ERA down to a respectable 3.12. He threw 89 pitches, 58 for strikes . Bassitt also helped his own cause with a nifty bit of fielding in the fifth, going to his right to grab George Springer’s bouncer and throw off balance to nab the speedy Springer at first.

The A’s stretched their lead once more in the eighth. Cy Sneed walked Matt Olson, who advanced a base on Grossman’s grounder to second and scored on Piscotty’s single to left center. Chad Pinder, who had replaced Kemp when Cionel Pérez replaced Javier in the sixth, doubled to left, sending Piscotty to third. Murphy came thorugh again, singling both men home, and the A´s were ahead 6-o.

Jake Diekman shut down the ‘stros with the help of a double play, and it took Lou Trivino all of three pitches, two of which Houston’s Kyle Tucker and Carlos Correa drove to the warning track, to shut down the visitors in the ninth.

Bassitt got the well earned win and is now 3-2. Javier took the tough loss, and his record standsat 4-2 (3.38).

The two rivals will go at it again tomorrow in a day-night make up double header. Each game is scheduled for seven innings, with Oakland, as the visitors, sending Frankie Montás (2-3,6.06) to the mound against Zach Greinke (3-0,2.91) at 3:10. Three hours later, with Oakland as the home team, it’ll be Mike Minor (0-5, 5.94 overall; 0-0, 18.00 with the A’s) making his Oakland starting debut against 2B Announced.