Oakland A’s hitter Stephen Piscotty takes Houston Astros pitcher Cristian Javier deep in the bottom of the second inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Wed Jul 27, 2022 (Bay Area News Group photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND–On a day when the Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry and his lovely wife Ayesha threw out the first pitch, the Oakland A’s completed a three-game sweep of the AL West first-place Houston Astros.

The 9,367 made the loudest noise in the ninth inning as A’s reliever A.J.Puk retired the Astros 1-2-3 to win the game 4-2. A’s starter Cole Irvin continued to pitch well. Irvin went seven innings and allowed four hits and two runs. His one mistake was a gopher ball to Houston’s DH Yordan Alvarez. Alvarez’s home run traveled 429 feet deep into the right-field seats.

The A’s drew first blood in the bottom of the second. With one out, A’s catcher Stephen Vogt took Christian Javier deep. The ball went over the fence in right field. It came o a 1-1 pitch. Now facing Stephen Piscotty, Javier saw his first pitch go out of the park. The back-to-back home runs gave the A’s an early 2-0 lead.

The Astros put one on the board in the top of the fifth. With one out, former SF Giant, Mauricio Dubon, singled. The next hitter, Jake Meyers, tripled to deep right-center-field to drive in Dubon. Irvin retired the next two hitters to end the inning.

The A’s lead got the run back in their half of the fifth. A’s first baseman Jonah Bride singled. Bride stole second and went to third on a wild pitch. Tony Kemp drove him in with a double to right. The A’s lead 3-1 after five complete.

In the top of the sixth, the Astros’ DH Yordan Alvarez hit a blast ten rows deep in right-field. As they say in baseball: “there was no doubt about it” when it left the bat. The Astros trail the A’s 3-2 after six.

The A’s added an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh. Stephen Piscotty led off the frame with a single, his second hit of the afternoon. Piscotty went to second on a passed ball and scored on Skye Bolt’s single. The A’s lead 4-2. 

Cole Irvin left after pitching seven innings. Domingo Acevedo kept the Astros off the board in the eighth. Lefty A.J.Puk earned his second career save, setting the Astros down 1-2-3 in the ninth to secure the win for Oakland. The A’s win 4-2.

Game Notes: With the win, the A’s are now 38-63. Oakland has won three in a row, six of the last seven, and are 6-2 since the All-Star break. The A’s are 12-8 in their last 20 games. The bullpen is 3-0 and has converted their six save opportunities in the last 12 games. 

Cole Irvin was the winning pitcher. His line was seven innings, four hits, and two runs allowed. His record is 6-7. The Astros’ Christian Javier was the losing pitcher. The Astros are now 64-35. 

Stephen Piscotty hit his fourth home run of the year. He also singled. Tony Kemp had two doubles and a single. Stephen homered for the fifth time this year.

Houston’s Yordan Alvarez blasted his 29th dinger.

The time of the game was two hours and twenty-nine minutes. Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred will be smiling when he hears the news.

The A’s are off on Thursday. They travel to Chicago for three games this weekend against the White Sox. James Kaprielian will go for Oakland. Chicago will counter with Lance Lynn. The game will start at 5:10 pm.