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Oakland A’s first baseman Chad Pinder connects for a grand slam home run in the bottom of the the third inning against the Houston Astros at the Oakland Coliseum on Tue Jul 26, 2022 (AP News photo)

Houston (64-34). 3. 7. 0

Oakland (37-63). 5. 6. 1

Tuesday, July 26, 2022

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–While the Bay Area’s Giants fans are wondering if their team will be buyers or sellers between now and 9:00 Tuesday night, A’s fanatics know that their team will be sellers. The questions for Oakland are who is going, what will the team get in return, and will A’s remain in Oakland long enough for the newcomers to play here.

Frankie Montás, tonight’s starter for the green and gold, is a prime candidate for an August departure. The 3-9, 3.16 record he brought to the mound tonight doesn’t tell the whole story. He has an inventory of five pitches consisting of four seam, split finger, and cut fastballs, a sinker, and a slider.

The 29 year old righty had gone 0-2, 1.50, in his four previous starts. He was forced to leave the last of those, five days ago, after just one frame because of a shoulder inflammation that had kept him out of action since July 3.

Tuesday night he lasted but five innings, in which he threw 78 pitches, 44 of which were counted as strikes. He surrendered three runs, two of which were earned, on seven hits, one of which went the distance, and three walks, two of which were intentional, while striking out three. He was credited with the win, his fourth against nine defeats, although his ERA creeped up to 3.18.

Luis García, who started for the Astros, was a pretty good 8-5, 3.65 at game time and had come in second in the voting for last year’s American League Rookie of the Year Award. His team began the day leading Seattle by 12 games for first place in the AL West at 64-33, 29 games ahead of the slowly improving A’s, who at 36-63 would need to go 45-18 merely to finish the season at .500.

García suffered one horrid inning but hung on to throw 108 pitches (63 strikes) over 5-2/3 frames, allowing four runs, all earned, on four hits, one of them a grand slam, another four walks, and a wild pitch. He struck out seven Athletics; five of his first six outs were Ks. He took the loss and now has a record of 8-6, 3.81.

Montás didn’t look sharp at the start but didn’t get into serious trouble until Martín Maldonado led off the third with a bouncing drive down the left field line that zipped past Vimael Machín, playing shallow at the hot corner, for a lead off double that brought the top of the Astro order to the plate with a runner in scoring position.

Chas McCormick and Jeremy Peña bounced out to Machín as Maldonado prudently remained at second. Montás threw two balls to Yordán Alvarez before conceding the remaining two balls for an intentional walk. He then threw third straight balls to Alex Bregman, who, with the count at 3-0 flew out to Piscotty in right on a 95mph sinker. The Curse of the Lead Off Double strikes again!

García dug a hole for himself in the bottom of that frame. With one out, Jonah Bride legged out a single to third. García got Machín to ground out to second while Bride moved up a base. Then García walked Laurano and Murphy, filling the basepaths with Athletics.

Chad Pinder unclogged that traffic jam, driving a 78mph slider 417 feet into the left field seats for his ninth home run of the year, his second grand slam of 2022 and the fourth of his career, putting the A’s ahead, 4-0.

The ‘stros quickly cut that lead to 4-1. Kyle Tucker opened the Houston fourth by taking a 2-1 splitter from Montás way deep to right, 425 feet deep to be exact. They were his 19th four bagger and 64th run batted in of the season and served as a reminder that three walks and a ball hit out of the park don’t make a game a walk in the park.

Alvarez drove that lesson home in the next episode by driving Peña, on first with a two out single to left center, home with a double off the right center field wall. Bregman followed that with a hard ground ball to third that Machín fielded beautifully but threw late and wildly past Pinder at first.

Bregman’s single allowed Alvarez to reach third, and Machín’s throwing error let each of them advance an additional 90 feet. The run was unearned, Bregman didn’t get an RBI, but the A’s lead had dwindled to 4-3.

After Oakland went down in their half of the fifth without achieving anything more than a walk to Murphy, Montás didn’t come out to pitch the Houston sixth. That task fell to Austin Pruitt, who disposed of the bottom of the Astros’ lineup in order.

García lasted only two thirds of the way through the bottom of the sixth. He got Andrus to ground out to start the frame before Piscotty doubled to left center and Kemp lined out to center. At that point, Bryan Abreu came in to strike out Bolt.

Pruitt stuck around to fan McCormick and Peña in the seventh and then gave way to Sam Moll, who retired Alvarez on one pitch with a grounder to Pinder.

The Oaklanders came close to stretching their lead in the home seventh. With one out and Machín on first, Laureano lifted a high fly to deep left that McCormick harvested just in front of the Ring Central sign, at the meeting point of the running track and the fence.

Moll stayed on long enough to retire the Bregman and Tucker, the later on a fly to Piscotty on the right center field warning track, and then bow out in favor of Zach Jackson.who had pitched to and retired one batter in the eighth inning the night before. He did it tonight as well.

Héctor Neris, pitching for the ´stros in the bottom of the eighth, caught Pinder and Andrus looking at third strikes and then yielded a double down the left field line to Piscotty, his second consecutive two bagger. Kemp brought him home with an insurance run by banging a double of his own off the right field fence.

Now the question was, could Lou Trivino, who had come in to pitch the ninth with a two run lead in Monday’s 7-5 win over Houston, hold on to at least one of the two run cushion he had tonight?

JJ Matijevic hit a liner back to Trivino, who knocked it down and threw Matijevic out at first. José Altuve hit for Meyers and grounded out to second. Yuli Gurriel hit for Maldonado and grounded out, Machín to Pinder, both of whom made nice plays.

Trivino justified Mark Kotsay´s faith in him and earned his tenth save in 12 opportunities.

The players on both squads will grab 40 winks and be back here to face each other at 12:37. Cole Irvin (5-7,3.08) will be on the bump for Oakland, and Christian Javier (6-5,3.13) for Houston.

Oakland A’s Sky Bolt rounds the bases after belting his third home run of the season against the Houston Astros in the bottom of the fourth inning at the Oakland Coliseum on Mon Jul 25, 2022 (photo @Athletics)

Houston (64-33) 5.  7.  0

Oakland (36-6)  7. 10. 1

Monday, July 25, 2022

By Lewis Rubman

OAKLAND–The A’s last faced 11 year veteran Jake Odorrizi a week ago Sunday, when he got to him for three runs, all earned, in 5-1/3 innings in a game that Oakland won but in which Houston’s starter didn’t figure in the decision.

A week before that, he gained his fourth win of the season, shutting out the green and gold in the Coliseum on four hits over seven innings. He returned to the scene of the crime this evening with a record of  4-2, 3.56 for the division leading Astros, who could boast of a 64-32 record when the A’s sent 27 year old rookie Adam Oller, a native of Conroe, TX, three hours’ drive from Houston, to toe the rubber against the Astros. In Texas, that’s a hop, skip, and a jump.

In his last mound appearance, Oller, who took the mound at 0-3,8.56,  started and went 4-1/3 frames against Odorizzi and Co., surrendering three runs, all earned, on six hits, two of them home runs, and, like Odorizzi, came out of it with a no decision.

But before the first pitch was thrown in anger, the A’s announced that they had optioned David McKay to Las Vegas. McKay made his Oakland debut Sunday, relieving Paul Blackburn in the fifth and allowing a run on four hits in 2-2/3 innings.

Seth Brown, who popped out to third in his eighth inning pinch hitting appearance in the same game, was placed on the paternity list. You could say that he popped out in the transaction. Replacing them were infielder Jonah Bride, returning from the injured list, and left handed pitcher Sam Selman.

Odorrizi managed to get through five plus frames. Although he left two posthumous runners on board, none of them scored.  His line for the night was six runs, all earned, on seven hits, two of them homers,  and a walk. He recorded two strikeouts and threw 81 pitches, 56 counted as strikes. He took the loss, dropping his record to 4-3,4.25).

Oller also lasted five plus innings, leaving ahead 6-2 with two men on base and nobody out in the top of the sixth. He threw 71 pitches, 42 of them considered strikes). He was charged with four runs, three of which earned and one posthumous.

He gave up four hits, one of which went the distance, and two walks, while striking out four. He got the win, and his record now stands at 1-2, 8.07).

Houston didn’t waste much time getting the upper hand. After

José Altuve lined out to right to open hostilities, Jeremy Peña parked a 3-2,  94mph four seamer  in the right field stands, 366 feet from home plate.

Oller settled down, allowing only a walk before Tony Kemp led off the bottom of the third, with the score still 1-0.  After two pitches to Kemp, it was knotted at one all.  The A’s left fielder slammed an 88mph cut fastball over the fence in right field, 374 feet deep, for his fourth round tripper and 17th run batted in of the season.

An inning later, the home team foiled The Curse of the Lead Off Double. In this case, it was Ramón Laureano’s two bagger to center field that opened the frame and led to the A’s putting five tallies on the board. 

After Laureano took second on Sean Murphy’s fly to center, Odorizzi issued a free pass to Chad Pinder. Elvis Andrus brought Laureano home with a single to left that sent Pinder to second. After Stephen Piscotty flew out to right, Kemp whacked a double to the base of the centerfield wall at the 400 foot sign, scoring Pinder and Andrus.

That made it six total bases and three runs driven in in two at bats for Kemp and a 5-1 lead for the Athletics. Skye Bolt made it 6-1 by taking Odorizzi deep to right on a 92mph four seamer that travelled 379 feet. It was Bolt’s third dinger and fifth RBI.

The Astros also defeated The Curse of the Two Out Double by smacking them back to back. Aledmys Día and Chas McCormick went to right field to perform their Zombie Jamboree (“Back to back and belly to belly. / I don’t give a damn. I done that already”). But that’s all they got, and, half way through the game, Oakland led 6-2.

The Houston sixth also featured a lead off double, this one by Peña off the Rickey Henderson Field sign in left center. Yordán Alvarez’s full count walk that followed signaled the end of Olller’s tenure on the mound. Domingo Acevedo relieved him and got Alex Bregman out on a fly to center. Then he tried to pick Alvarez off at first and threw the ball into the visitors’ bullpen, which allowed Peña to score and Alvarez to take third.

Acevedo then hit Yuli Gurriel with a pitch. With Díaz at the plate, the Astros pulled a double steal, which brought them to two runs of the A’s, who now led 6-4.

Dusty Baker yanked Odorizzi with no one out in the bottom of the sixth, after Pinder and Andrus had singled, respectively, to right and left. Phil Maton was his replacement. Maton called on a pitcher’s best friend, 6-4-3, before getting Kemp to ground out to second to end the inning.

AJ Puk took over mound chores for the green and gold in the top of the seventh. He set the Astros down without a hit or run, although he needed an around the horn twin killing to offset the third strike wild pitch he unleashed to Korey Lee, which had allowed the Houston receiver to reach first after being fanned.

Bolt led off the Oakland seventh against Maton with a single up the middle that just eluded the grasp of the diving Peña. Allen and Machín went down swinging. Then Baker called on Ryne Stanek to face Laureano.

The speedy Bolt stole second on Stanek to the A’s right fielder, putting a potential much needed insurance run in scoring position. But Laureano took a split fingered fastball for a called strike three.

Puk flirted with danger in the Houston eighth, walked Peña on five pitches to open the frame. But he caught Alvarez looking at four seam strike three and retired Alex Bregman on foul fly to first on which Pinder made a nifty over the shoulder catch. Zach Jackson then entered the fray to retire Díaz on a less challenging foul to first.

Murphy led off the home half of the inning by slicing a double down the right field line. He took third strike when Stanek’s first offering to Pinder was a wild pitch and, after Pinder went down swinging, scored on an Andrus base knock to left. The Curse of the Lead Off Double, be damned! Stephen Vogt came up to pinch hit for Piscotty and grounded into a double play, Peña unassisted to Gourriel.

Lou Trivino started the top of the ninth as the intimate gathering of 4,105 fans held their breath. He got Díaz to ground out to third, where Machín made a neat play. Then the inevitable happened, Chas McCormich took him deep to right, drawing Houston to within a two runs of tying the game. Jake Meyers made the second out, bouncing out to short.

Then JJ Matijavic, pinch hitting for Lee, singled to left, bringing the top of the lineup to the plate. Altuve dropped a perfect bunt just to the left of home for a single, and now the tying run was on first. Trivino now had to face Peña. He struck him out on a 1-2 slider.

The save was Trevino’s ninth in 11 opportunities.

There were several scouts assessing the Athletics roster with an eye to the August 2 trade deadline. Even more are expected for tomorrow’s match up, in which Frankie Montás (3-9, 3.19) is scheduled to strut his stuff against Luis García (8-5, 3.65). Game time will be 6:40.