Houston Astros Jose Altuve reaches down and up to hit a third inning three run home run against the Oakland A’s at Minute Maid Field on Wed Jul 7, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Houston Astros (54-33) continued to torment the Oakland A’s (49-39) as they beat the Green and Gold 4-3. The Astros and A’s have met 12 times so far this season. The Astros have won nine. The storyline shows two teams going in different directions. The A’s have lost twelve of their last 18 games.

The Astros are 13-5. The A’s were in first place with a 2-game lead over Houston before things went south. They now trail Houston by five and 1.2 games. The A’s can get back on course with a win Thursday afternoon in Houston.

The A’s grabbed an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first. A’s first baseman, Matt Olson, blasted a 398-foot blast into the seats in the right field with two out. It was Olson’s 21st big fly of the year.

A’s starter, Sean Manaea, retired the first six Astro hitters he faced. Things went sour in the bottom of the third. Astros’ third baseman reached on A’s third baseman Chad Pinder’s throwing error. Toro went to second on the error.

The next hitter, Myles Straw, singled, sending Toro to third. Manaea struck out Martin Maldonado for the first out. Unfortunately for Manaea, he had to face the ever-dangerous Jose Altuve. Altuve sent Manaea’s pitch off the wall in the back of the Crawford Boxes to propel Houston to a 3-1 lead. Michael Brantley followed with a single. Manaea then retired the next eleven Astro hitters.

Houston’s manager, Dusty Baker, did not allow his starter, Luis Garcia, to pitch the sixth inning. Garcia’s high pitch count was the reason he did not come out to start the sixth. Baker selected righty Christian Javier to face Oakland in the sixth.

A’s shortstop Elvis Andrus hit his second home run of the year with a blast into the left-field seats. Javier then walked Matt Olson. Ramon Laureano singled, Olson stopped at second. Jed Lowrie also singled to load the bases with no out.

With Sean Murphy hitting, Javier uncorked a wild pitch allowing Olson to score on the play. Laureano and Lowrie advanced to second and third. The next play turned out to be one of the key plays in the game. Murphy sent a ball left field that Michael Brantley caught.

A’s third base, Mark Kotsay, had Laureano tagged up and tried to score. Brantley’s throw home nailed Laureano to complete the double play. Stephen Piscotty struck out to end the inning. The good news was the A’s tied the game 3-3.

A’s manager Bob Melvin sent Manaea out to pitch the seventh. He retired Carlos Correa for the first out. The next hitter was right fielder Kyle Tucker. Tucker hit his 14th dinger of the year to put the Astros ahead 4-3.

Astros’ relievers, Ryne Stanek and Ryan Pressly, each set the A’s down 1-2-3 in the eighth and ninth innings to preserve Houston’s 4-3 win.

Game Notes and Stats- With the loss, the A’s are 49-39 for the season. They trail the Astros by 5/12 games. Houston’s record is 54-33.
The A’s line was three runs, five hits, and two errors. Houston’s line was four runs, four hits, and two errors.

Sean Manaea absorbed the loss. His record is now 6-6 for the year. Manaea went six and 2/3rds innings. He allowed four runs, one of which was unearned, and four hits. Two of the hits were home runs. He struck out six and did not issue a walk.

Chad Pinder appeared to injure his right leg on the last play of the game. The extent of the injury is not known at the time of this report.

The A’s meet the Astros Thursday afternoon in Houston. The game will start at 10:30 pm Pacific Daylight time.

The game lasted two hours and fifty-nine minutes. Twenty-one thousand one hundred fifty people witnessed the Astros beat the A’s for the ninth time this season