The Houston Astros Framber Valdez throws to the Oakland A’s line up in the top of the first inning at Minute Maid Field in Houston on Wed May 15, 2024 (AP News photo)

By Barbara Mason

There was nothing going on for the Oakland A’s (19-26) in their third game against the Houston Astros (18-25). They generated next to zero offense. The bright spot in this game was Aaron Brooks who took the mound for Oakland. He had a nice game but the caveat in this game was the lack of offense The bats were silent partially due to the excellent pitching of Houston’s Framber Valdez but they only managed 2 hits in the 3-0 loss.

Game recap: The first inning was a rough way to start for the A’s. The Astros scored their first two runs in the bottom of the first due to a throwing error by second baseman Zach Gelof. The Astros Jose Altuve scored off that error for a 1-0 lead.

Alex Bregman sacrificed and Kyle Tucker scored from second giving Houston a 2-0 lead going into the second inning. The Astros extended their lead in the fourth inning when Dubon sacrificed and Pena scored from third base clocking their third run of the game. The Astros had six hits through four innings while Oakland had a single hit through five innings.

Through five innings the A’s had a litany of strike outs and ground outs. Astros pitcher Framber Valdez had struck out six A’s and he was showing little signs of letting down. He had only allowed the one hit, no runs and six strikeouts through five innings.

Oakland had so far shown a real lack-luster performance and were behind the eight ball trailing 3-0. A’s starting pitcher Aaron Brooks had allowed six hits and three runs through the first five innings with four strikeouts. Houston was dominating Oakland at every turn threatening to take a 3-0 series lead.

Oakland had runners on first and second in the seventh inning but left them stranded when Tyler Nevin grounded out to end the inning. Valdez went seven innings in this game finishing with two hits, no runs and eight strikeouts. After a solid seven innings, Valdez was relieved by Seth Martinez in the eighth inning.

It was an uneventful eighth inning for Oakland. Max Schuemann struck out and Seth Brown grounded into a double play. Oakland pitcher Aaron Brooks was relieved in the bottom of the eighth by T.J. McFarland. Brooks had a good outing going seven innings finishing with seven hits, three runs and five strikeouts. He was one of the bright spots in this game.

Oakland got a couple of runners on base in the ninth inning with one out but Shea Langeliers grounded into a double play and that was the ball game 3-0. Houston will be going for the sweep in Thursday’s game. Should the Astros win game four, they will be tied for third place with the A’s in the American League West.

Post game notes: Tuesday, the A’s came close in their second game of a four game series with the Astros but fell short in the tenth inning losing 2-1. This was Oakland’s third loss in a row and they have shown a steady decline for awhile now.

There is trouble in the bullpen and that has hurt the team. Yes they do have a number of excellent starting pitchers, relief pitchers and closers but they are not deep in that department. They have also struggled offensively lately leaving runners stranded as well as not being able to string hits together or even get hits at all for that matter.

The A’s have been managing defensively but they have fallen off considerably since their six game winning streak that began last April 28 and ran through May 4th. They have lost eight of their last ten games so something is very wrong right now.

The A’s had been playing well, in fact exceeding expectations, and then it all came to a screeching halt. They were either beating or keeping pace with some very good teams earlier which included splitting a four game series with the Yankees.

This team needs to recover the success they were having; the magic that was bringing so much success earlier in the season or they will, much as last year, be left behind. This is a critical juncture for the Oakland A’s right now.

The Oakland A’s will try to avoid the sweep in game four of this series. First pitch is scheduled for 5:10 PM. Joey Estes (1-0 ERA 1.80) will take the mound for Oakland and Cristian Javier (2-1 ERA 4.01) will be on the hill for the Astros.