Tag: A’s

Support your local pitcher: A’s get behind brilliant Chavez in 3-0 win over the Yankees

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Chavez

By Morris Phillips

Insistent that they’re not a bad ballclub, the A’s took advantage of the Yankees over the weekend in an effort to state their case.

The A’s shutout New York, 3-0, on Sunday as starter Jesse Chavez was masterful, and Stephen Vogt—with two swings of the bat—provided all the needed offense.

By winning three of four from the Yankees, the A’s couldn’t escape the American League cellar, but they did avoid the stain of being the big league’s worst performer in May with their 11th win, one more than the Red Sox and Marlins, who both lost on Sunday.

More importantly, there’s visible signs of life at the O.co Coliseum, where the A’s had failed to capture any of the last eight series at home, a streak dating back to September 2014.

“That’s a big confidence boost for us going into Detroit and Boston,” Vogt said.

Nothing said the A’s are ready to do something different more than their support of Chavez, and his second straight, spot-on performance, in which he shut the Yankees’ powerful lineup for eight full innings.  Previously, the A’s had left Chavez hanging in four previous starts where they didn’t score even one run while he was in the game.

Needless to say, Chavez has had to be mentally tough to go through a stretch in which he was tagged with losses in five of his six decisions despite a winner’s ERA of 2.44.   A major part of his success—first as a reliever, and now as a starter—is shutting down opponents early on.  Chavez struggled early on Sunday, needing 42 pitches to get through the first two innings.  After that, in a reversal of previous patterns, he cruised, throwing 110 pitches in eight frames.

“The first two innings I was just fighting myself,” Chavez said.  “I was not using the slope to my advantage.  I had to just really step back after that second inning and be like, ‘Just do what you do and pretend it’s a bullpen and drive to both sides of the plate.”

Chavez improved to 4-0 in his career against the pinstripes, a major accomplishment against any club, but even more so against the Yankees, who as always have deep threats one through nine.  Still, Chavez has allowed just one home run to New York in 27 plus innings pitched.

According to Vogt, who was behind the plate for Chavez’ gem, the pitcher had all of his pitches working.  But with the game scoreless in the fifth, the catcher felt pressure to tip the scales for his pitcher on the scoreboard.  Vogt did so in the sixth with a two-run shot off New York’s Adam Warren that put the A’s ahead.

“That was the first thing I thought of as soon as I was fortunate enough to get the ball out of the yard is ‘all we have to do is get this guy some runs and he’s just going to run with it,” Vogt said.

Vogt backed his homer up with sacrifice fly in the eighth that chased home the speedy Billy Burns for a 3-0 A’s lead.

Tyler Clippard came on to pick up the save, pitching a scoreless ninth, allowing just one hit.

The A’s drew 25,457 for the finale of the homestand, a crowd that included the Warriors’ Klay Thompson, sitting above the A’s dugout.

For the record, that’s one Splash Brother down with the Giants (Stephen Curry attended Friday’s Giants’ game with his wife) and one Splash Brother (Thompson) down with the A’s.

A’s start fast but shut down late in loss to the Yankees

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By Morris Phillips

Attempting to beat the mighty Yankees for the third straight day, the A’s were plenty respectable on Saturday, but it wasn’t the night for merely credible performances.

Instead, New York’s Carlos Beltran drank from the fountain of youth, then muscled up a game-winning blast in the sixth, and rookie Ramon Flores traveled all day from the East coast and turned in a pair of spectacular defensive plays in his major league debut.

Flores’ gems kept the A’s from running away early, and Beltran knocked in the game’s final three runs in the Yankees 5-3, come-from-behind win over the A’s.

The loss prevented the A’s from extending their best stretch of play in an otherwise disastrous, first two months of the season, and the win allowed the Yankees to maintain first place in the AL East, despite entering the day’s play just one game above .500.

For Oakland, most of their frustration came in the form of 12 hits—none for extra bases—that produced only three runs.  With numerous opportunities to chase Yankees’ starter Nathan Eovaldi, the A’s couldn’t produce the big hit, then saw their 3-1 lead evaporate soon after it was built.

“Early on you look up there and I think we had seven hits and no runs, and that’s hard to do,” manager Bob Melvin said.  “One extra base hit breaks it open or a little bit more.”

While the A’s were chipping away at Eovaldi, their starter, Jesse Hahn was doing his best to control the New York lineup one sinker and one ground ball at a time, a pleasing follow-up to his first ever complete-game shutout in his last start versus Detroit.

But this time Hahn wasn’t perfect allowing three hits–including a Brian McCann RBI single–in the first inning.  After the A’s built their lead, Hahn saw his sinker flatten out in the zone, and Beltran deposited the mistake beyond the center field wall.  The 6’5” Hahn was had, another case of a veteran taking advantage of a youngster.

“I thought he threw the ball really well,” Melvin said of Hahn. “A little different in what he tried to do today.  I thought it was breaking ball and changeup were better, pitched in a little bit better, but really it ends up being one ball that’s a little bit up to Beltran.”

It was the 377th home run of Beltran’s 17-year, big league career, but only his fourth this season.  After a quiet April, the former Giant has been on his game, hitting .308 in May with all four round trippers since May 10.

“I’m just getting better results.  Sometimes I have been too passive at the plate, so my mentality is to hit,” Beltran said.

In the eighth, Beltran struck again with an RBI single scoring Mark Teixeira and providing a cushion.

Flores impressed the Yankees in spring training with his athleticism and batting stroke, and with utility man Slade Heathcott hobbled, the young Venezuelan got the call this morning.

Just that logistical issue of having to travel from AAA Scranton/Wilkes Barre to Oakland—an all-day odyssey—and still be fresh for first pitch at 7:05pm.

Flores arrived more excited than travel weary and manager Joe Girardi plugged him into lineup batting seventh.

The rookie struck early, fielding Josh Reddick’s single in shallow left and throwing out Marcus Semien at the plate.  Flores’ throw was particularly accurate, but it arrived well before Semien allowing the catcher McCann to lunge back with the tag.

Then in the second, Flores was placed perfectly—shallow and near the line—when he broke on Eric Sogard’s foul pop and made a sliding catch through the A’s bullpen.

The Yankees bullpen shut the A’s down preventing any hope of a late, offensive surge.  Four relievers combined to allow just one hit while recording the final 13 outs of the ballgame.

On Sunday, the A’s look to capture their first series win in almost a month with Jesse Chavez facing New York’s Adam Warren at 1:05pm.

The A’s rally to beat the Yankees

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by Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s finally put together a game that their fans had something to cheer about as they came from behind to defeat the big, bad New York Yankees 5-4 at the O.Co Coliseum Thursday night.  The A’s Kendall Graveman started his second game since being recalled from Nashville and pitched relatively well as he went 5 2/3rds innings giving up seven hits and three runs. Graveman walked two and  struck out four. He left the game trailing 3-0. A’s relievers Fernando Abad and Evan Scribner came through for the A’s holding the Yanks scoreless. A’s closer Tyler Clippard retired the first two batters he faced in the ninth but walked pinch-hitter, Garrett Jones. Brett Gardner doubled to left-center driving in Jones who was running on the pitch. Clippard then retired Chase Headley for the final out to record the win for the A’s.

The Yankees took an early 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning. With one out, Yankees catcher Brian McCann hit  a big fly that left the park over the right field wall. It was McCann’s seventh home run of the season.

The Yanks added a run in the top of the fourth. Alex Rodriguez led off the inning with a single. Graveman walked Mark Texeira to put men on at first and second with no out. Brian McCann followed with a sharp single to center field. Rodriguez appeared to not touch the plate as he was attempting to score. A’s catcher Josh Phegley tagged him and he was ruled out by home plate umpire  Ed Hickox. The Yankees challenged the ruling on the field and it was overturned as the replay showed that A-Rod barely got his hand on a small corner of the plate but he did touch the plate and it was the correct call.

New York took a 3-0 lead in the fifth. Singles by Brett Gardner and Chase Headley put men on at first and third with one out. A-Rod flew out to right field to drive in Gardner with the run. The A’s made it a 3-1 game when they got on the board in the bottom of the fifth. Billy Burns hit  a line shot that barely made it over the wall at the 330 ft. mark. For Burns, it was his second home run of the season.

The A’s tied the game in the bottom of the sixth. Ben Zobrist led off with a double. Zobrist advanced to third when Billy Butler flew out to right field. Sabathia struck out Stephen Vogt, but Brett Lawrie took a pitch to deep left to tie the game. For Lawrie, it was his third homer of the season. 3-3 after six.

The A’s scored two runs in the seventh to take a 5-3 lead. Josh Phegley led off the inning with a single and Mark Canha drew a walk to put two men on with no out. Yankee manager Joe Girardi replaced Sabathia with David Robertson. Billy Burns tried to lay down a sacrifice bunt, but it was not successful as Phegley was thrown out at third base. Marcus Semien singled to load the bases. Ben Zobrist worked Robertson for a walk driving in Canha with the A’s fourth run of the game. Billy Butler flew out to deep centerfield to drive in Burns with the second run of the inning and the fifth of the game for Oakland.

The Yankees refused to go quietly in the ninth. It looked like Clippard was going to set them down in order, but the Yanks had other ideas. Garrett Jones, pinch-hitting for Didi Gregorius, drew a walk with two out. Brett Gardner came to the plate representing the tying run. with a 3-2 count and Jones running on the pitch, Gardner lashed a double to left centerfield to score Jones. Clippard had to face the dangerous Chase Headley to end the game. He got Headley to fly out to center to end the game ad the fans let go a collective sigh of relief as the A’s won the game by a final score of 5-4.

Game notes- The A’s overcame a 3-0 deficit to win their 18th game of the ear. The A’s snapped a 12-game losing streak in one-run games at home dating back to September 6th,2014. It was the longest such streak in Athletics history. The A’s are 1-10 in one-run games at home this season. The A’s have won 15 of the last 20 games against the Yankees.The A’s finally had a hit with a runner in scoring position to snap a 0-for-26 streak.  Winning pitcher for Oakland was Evan Scribner and Tyler Clippard recorded his sixth save of the year. The Yankees C.C.Sabathia took the loss and is now 2-7 with an ERA of 5.67. Sabathia is 9-10 with a 4.75 ERA in 28 career starts against Oakland. Alex Rodriguez recorded his 1996th career RBI tying him with Barry Bonds for second place all-time.

The A’s made another error, but it did not cost them. They have committed 51 errors in 50 games and lead the Major Leagues in that department.

Game two of the four-game series will be played Friday night at 7:05pm at the O.co Coliseum. Sonny Gray (5-2,1.77) will go for Oakland and he will be opposed by LHP Chris Capuano (0-2,7.36)

Attendance was 21,795.

Yoenis Cespedes homers to beat the A’s.

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by Jerry Feitelberg

The A’s lost another one-run game Wednesday afternoon. The Detroit Tigers beat them 3-2 to win the rubber match of the three-game series. A’s starting pitcher, Scott Kazmir left the game after three innings with tightness in his left shoulder. He underwent an MRI, but the results will not be known until Thursday. He was replaced by Dan Otero. Otero went two innings giving up five hits and three runs. The decisive blow was a three-run home run off the bat of  former Athletic, Yoenis Cespedes. Sean Doolittle made his first appearance of the season and pitched well in his one inning of work.  His fastball topped at 90 miles per hour but he used his slider and change-up effectively.  With the loss, the A’s won-loss record for the year is 17-32 while Detroit improved to 28-20. Otero took the loss for Oakland while Kyle Ryan, called up from Louisville and making his first appearance of the season, received credit for the win.

The game was scoreless until the fifth inning.  With two out, Tiger second baseman, Ian Kinsler doubled. The A’s elected to walk Miguel Cabrera to put men on at first and second. That decision did not turn out well as former Athletic, Yoenis Cespedes hit a line shot to left field that went over the wall for a three-run homer. After the game, Bob Melvin said that the A’s would not let Cabrera beat them and the A’s were willing to face the next batter no matter what.

The A’s got on the board in the bottom of the seventh. Stephen Vogt led off the inning with a triple. The ball hit the 367 mark but did not go out. Mark Canha, pinch hitting for Max Muncy, flied out to centerfield and Vogt was able to tag up and score. Detroit leads 3-1 after seven.

The A’s made it a one-run game in the bottom of the eighth.Marcus Semien, pinch hitting for Sam Fuld, led off with a triple to right field. Semien scored on a ground out by Eric Sogard to make it a 3-2 game.  Billy Burns doubled to put a man in scoring position with one out but  Josh Reddick popped up for the second out and Ben Zobrist fouled out to end the inning.

The A’s failed to score in the ninth. Billy Burns singled and advanced to second when Mark Canha walked. Tigers’ closer Joakim Soria Struck out Brett Lawrie and Marcus Semien to end the game.

Game notes- The Oakland A’s are 6-16 at home this season, the worst record after 22 games in Oakland history and are 8-18 in May.  The A’s have lost two of three games against Detroit and have not won a series since taking two of three from Texas May 1-3.  The A’s are 0-10 in one-run games in Oakland.

The New York Yankees will be in town for four games starting Thursday night at the O.co Coliseum. Game time will be at 7:05pm.

Kendall Graveman (2-2, 6.04 ERA) will pitch for Oakland and the Yankees will have the pride of Vallejo, C.C. Sabathia ( 2-6, 5.47 ERA)  on the hill

20,387 paid to see the game.

Jesse Chavez pitches well, A’s still lose to Detroit

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by Jerry Feitelberg

A’s starter, Jesse Chavez, has to wonder what does he have to do to catch a break and get some run support and a win. The loss snaps the A’s modest three-game winning streak. Chavez probably had his best outing of the year but took the loss as the A’s fell to the Tigers 1-0. It was an old-fashioned pitchers duel between Chavez and Detroit’s ace, David Price. Chavez went eight innings giving up just 5 hits and one unearned run. Jesse’s ERA dropped from 2.89 to 2.44 and his won-loss record is 1-5 for the year. The A’s have scored just six runs in his seven starts. He deserved a better fate Tuesday night. Price, former AL Cy Young award winner, received credit for his fourth win of the year. Price allowed five hits in seven innings of work.

The Tigers scored an unearned run in the top of the first inning. Anthony Gose singled to lead off the frame. Gose stole second and took third on a throwing error by A’s catcher Josh Phegley. Gose scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of former Athletic, Rajai Davis.  It was the 30th unearned run given up by the A’s this year and the 50th committed by the team in 48 games.

Game notes- A’s catcher, Josh Phegley threw out three Tiger runners attempting to steal second base. However, his error in the first inning enabled the Tigers to score the lone run of the game. The A’s have committed at least one error in 20 of the last 23 games (29 total) and 50 errors for the season. The A’s went 0-for-11 with RISP (runners in scoring position) and left 10 men on base. They are 1-10 when an opponent starts a left-handed pitcher. The A’s starting pitchers have gone four consecutive games without an earned run for the first time since 1928.

The Oakland A’s reinstated left-handed pitcher Sean Doolittle from the 15-day disabled list and optioned right-handed pitcher Angel Castro to Triple-A Nashville, the club announced today.

 Doolittle missed all of Spring Training and started the season on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left rotator cuff.  He began his rehab assignment with Single-A Stockton May 14, was transferred to Double-A Midland for one game on May 19 and moved to Triple-A Nashville May 22 for his final two appearances.  Doolittle had a loss and a 9.00 ERA in five rehab appearances overall.  He allowed five runs on eight hits in 5.0 innings but did not walk a batter while striking out five.
 Castro was selected from Nashville May 8 and did not allow a run in three of his four relief appearances with Oakland.  He compiled a 3.00 ERA but allowed six hits in 3.0 innings for a .462 opponents batting average.  Castro was 0-1 with a 3.79 ERA in six games, two starts, with the Sounds.
The rubber game of the three-game series will be played Wednesday at 12:35pm at the Coliseum. Scott Kazmir will pitch for Oakland and the Alfredo Simon will handle the pitching chores for the Tigers.
Attendance was 22,758 and time of game was 2 hours 58 minutes.

The A’s are rolling, Beat Detroit for third win in a row.

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by Jerry Feitelberg

I must be dreaming. Somebody wake me up and pinch me. I don’t believe what I am seeing. The A’s have won three games in a row for the first time this season. Not only did they beat the powerful Detroit Tigers, starting pitcher, Jesse Hahn, went nine innings and threw a shutout to ice the Tigers by a score of 4-0.

Hahn had all his pitches working for him and he limited to Tigers to just four hits. The A’s scored all the runs they would need in the bottom of the sixth when they scored four times to send Tigers pitcher Shane Greene to the showers.

The game was scoreless until the bottom of the sixth. Marcus Semien and Josh Reddick got the rally going with back-to-back singles to start the frame. A’s DH Billy Butler singled to drive in Semien with the A’s first run. Third baseman Max Muncy doubled to right-center to drive in Reddick with Butler taking third on the play. First baseman Mark Canha hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Butler with the third run. Sam Fuld doubled to drive in Muncy with run number four.

Notes- The A’s announced the Ben Zobrist was activated off the DL and Craig Gentry was sent down to Nashville to make room for Zobrist on the roster. Sean Dolittle will be activated Tuesday. Doolittle will not jump into the closer role immediately but probably be used as a setup man until he gets a little bit healthier. On the downside, the A’s made three more errors in the game, giving them 49 for the year

Hahn’s record improved to 2-4 while the Tigers’ Greene is now 4-3 for the year.

The A’s also welcomed back lead radio broadcaster, Ken Korach. Korach missed the beginning of the season due to problems with his knee.

Tuesday’s nights’ game will feature Jesse Chavez going for Oakland and he will be opposed by former Cy Young award winner, David Price. Game time will be 7:05pm at the O.co Coliseum.

Graveman returns new and improved, and the A’s snag a rare, road win

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By Morris Phillips

Kendall Graveman seems to know what it takes.  For the A’s, that’s a starting point.

Graveman was demoted on April 26 after stinking it up in four starts with an 8.27 ERA.  But his time at AAA Nashville was productive as the 24-year old righty improved his fastball command and cleaned up his secondary pitches as well.

Not only did Graveman clean up his act on the mound, he got his mind right as well.

“Even this morning getting up and eating breakfast and thinking about, ‘Hey, what is my job?  What can I control?  I can control making a pitch and getting guys out.”

“He had a plan with every batter and was hitting his spots, pounding the zone,” infielder Eric Sogard said of Graveman.

And on stormy night in Florida at a typically, half-empty Tropicana Field, Graveman made it happen, shutting down the Rays for six innings in the A’s 5-0 win that ended a four-game losing streak.

With Graveman mowing them down, the A’s balky offense gained time to find its bearings.  And after being held in check for five innings by Tampa Bay’s Nathan Karns, Oakland broke through in the sixth with four runs on just three hits.

This time, the Rays’ defense proved shaky and Xavier Cedeno was the overburdened, middle relief man.  For the A’s that alone was a departure from the norm in a season where the A’s have nosedived, unable to win close games or win during daytime.  But those trends changed as Cedeno inherited Karns’ two baserunners with two outs.

Sogard welcomed Cedeno with an RBI single, then Mark Canha drew a walk to load the bases.  Sam Fuld was next and he knocked in a pair of runs with a single to center.  But Kevin Kiermaier booted the ball in center trying to make a quick exchange and then catcher Rene Rivera dropped the ball at the plate when he appeared to have a chance to tag out Canha and save a run.

For the record that was two errors on the same play, and a dreaded unearned run, which has typically scarred the A’s this season.  But this time the shoe was on the other guy’s foot, and the A’s were in business.

After Graveman departed, Evan Scribner threw a pair of innings, allowing just one hit, and Tyler Clippard closed it out with a scoreless ninth.

With the win the A’s remain 13 ½ games out in the AL West and they’ve won just 15 of their 45 games thus far, but they finally got some good news if Graveman can continue his improved pitching.

On the injury front, Coco Crisp was placed on the disabled list with his re-injured neck which made room for Graveman’s promotion.  Also, Sean Doolittle appears closer to making his 2015 debut, probably on the A’s upcoming homestand that begins Monday.

The slide continues, The A’s lose to the Tampa Bay Rays

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by Jerry Feitelberg

The A’s lost again Thursday night  to the Tampa Bay Rays by a score of 3-0. The A’s lost for the 13th time in the last 15 games and look like a team that has earned the distinction of having the worst won-loss record in all of baseball. In days past, Jesse Chavez would have received credit for a win but the A’s did not give him any run support. Chavez went six-plus innings  giving up 5 hits and three runs while walking one and striking out six.  Jesse’s record is now 1-4 for the season.

The A’s had a chance in the very first inning to put at least one on the board but, as usual, they did not score and no one knows why. A’s center fielder, Billy Burns, led off the inning with a triple. The next batter, Marcus Semien, flied out to medium deep centerfield. Burns, for some reason, did not tag up. Had he attempted to score, he would have made it easily. Rays starter, Alex Colome, retired the next two A’s hitters to end the threat. The decision to stay put at third was a bonehead move and it is symptomatic of what’s wrong with the A’s. They are not playing fundamentally sound baseball.  Bob Melvin did not look happy when Burns came back to the dugout.

Former Athletic, David DeJesus, was the hitting start for the Rays. DeJesus doubled in the fourth to drive in Evan Longoria from first to give the Rays on the runs they would need to win. 1-0 after four. DeJesus homered in the seventh to make it 2-0 and the Rays added one more in the seventh. Final score Rays 3-0 over Oakland.

Notes- With the loss, the A’s are now 14-29 while Tampa improved to 23-19. The Rays were tied with New York for first place in the AL East before the start of play on Thursday. Alex Colome picked up the win and is 3-1 and Rays closer, Bruce Boxberger earned his 12th save of the year. A’s relievers Edward Mujica, Fernando Rodriguez, and Angel Castro closed out the game for Oakland. A’s third baseman, Brett Lawrie committed an error to add to the fielding woes.

Game two of the four-game series will be played Friday evening in Tampa at 4:10pm.

The Astros slap another loss on the A’s.

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by Jerry Feitelberg

The A’s 2015 train wreck  of a season continued Wednesday afternoon in Houston as they lost again to the Houston Astros by a score of 6-1. The A’s were trying to win the rubber game of the three-game series, but they had to face the Astro’s star left-handed hurler, Dallas Keuchel. Keuchel had not been charged with a loss so far this year and with the Astros’ win, his record improved to 6-0 and his ERA dropped to 1.67. The Astros are off to their best start in club history with a record of 27-14. The A’s, on the other hand, are a dismal 14-28. The A’s have won back-to-back games only once this year and that came against Houston on April 13th and 14th. Since that time, they have not been able to win more than one game in a row. It has been a pathetic performance. A’s General Manager, Billy Beane, has asked the fans to be patient as he feels the team can turn things around, but it’s going to be a tough sell. There are too many things going wrong for this club right now. They need improvement in all categories of play. They need better performances from the starting pitching, they need bullpen help as the bullpen is the arson squad. They need better fielding. A’s shortstop, Marcus Semien, made another throwing error and it was his 16th of the year. The A’s lead the Major Leagues in errors committed and does not show sign of improving at all. The A’s have not been able to get hits with runners in scoring position. They were 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position in Wednesday’s game.

Jesse Hahn was on the mound for the A’s and he went six innings giving up 3 runs on 3 hits while walking 2 and striking out 6. Hahn took the loss and his record dropped to 1-4 and his ERA now stands at 4.43.  The big blow was a 2-run home run by Evan Gattis in the bottom of the 6th. The A’s had their chances but failed to cash in on the opportunities. In the fourth, they loaded the bases with one out. Mark Canh grounded into a force out at home and Craig Gentry grounded out into an inning-ending force out at second. In the 6th, the A’s had 2 on with 1 out but could score just one run on Chris Carter’s fielding error.  The Astros put the game away in the bottom of the eighth when they score three times to make it a 6-1 game.

The A’s will be in Tampa Bay for a four-game set with the Tampa Bay Rays. Jesse Chavez (1-3) will pitch for Oakland as they face the resurgent Rays. The Rays are in second place in the AL East with a record of 22-18 and are probably licking their chops knowing that the A’s are struggling. Reversal of fortunes for both teams this year.

Notes- The only bright note is that A’s third baseman, Brett Lawrie, went 3-for-4 in the game and raise his batting average to .280.  The line score for the A’s was one run on 7 hits and 1 error while Houston’s line was 6 runs on 10 hits and no errors. A’s reliever, Dan Otero pitched 1 and 1.3rd inning and allowed 3 hits and was charged with 3 runs, all earned.

Game time will be at 4:10pm from Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, Florida.

A Pair of Singles Pushes A’s Past AL-Leading Astros

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By Matthew T.F. Harrington

The Oakland Athletics showed one of the top homer happy teams in the majors Monday night that you don’t always need the long ball. Sometimes a couple of single base knocks can do the trick.

A pair of run-scoring singles, one in the 2nd and another in the 6th inning, pushed the A’s (14-26) to a 2-1 victory over the Houston Astros at Minute Maid Park Monday night. Eric Sogard and Brett Lawrie picked up an RBI each while the recently acquired Edward Mujica picked up the road victory with a scoreless 1 2/3 innings of relief.

Oakland starter Drew Pomeranz suffered a very minor letdown compared to his last outing, a 7 inning, two-run performance against the Boston Red Sox. It was the pitch count and not the vaunted lineup of the American League leading Astros (25-14) playing spoiler. The hard-throwing southpaw lasted only 4 1/3 frames, surrendering a measly two hits, but walking five on the night.

Pomeranz opened the contest on rocky footing, plunking the fleet-of-foot Jose Altuve for the free base to open the contest. Altuve then pilfered second, his 14th steal of the season, before advancing to third on Jonathan Villar’s sacrifice bunt. The hirsute Evan Gattis brought the 2014 major league hits leader home with a sacrifice fly to right to put the home team ahead 1-0 after just one inning.

Astros starter Lance McCullers, making his major league debut Monday, didn’t get to experience a lead in the Bigs for long. In fact, it lasted only a few outs. After a one-out second inning double by Max Muncy, the bespectacled Sogard singled through the right side to pull Oakland even. Like Pomeranz, McCullers’ evening was a short one. The 21-year-old lasted 4 2/3 innings, walking three while punching out five.

McCullers was lifted for reliever Joe Thatcher, who was relieved of the tie an inning after finishing off the fifth inning. Thatcher (0-1, 3.38 ERA) faced three batters in the sixth without recording an out, coughing up a leadoff single to Billy Butler before losing Stephen Vogt and Muncy on back-to-back walks.

Will Harris took over for Thatcher, but allowed the game-winning hit to Lawrie. It was the first RBI Lawrie’s collected since May 5th. Harris wiggled out of the jam with a force-out at home and a twin killing to minimize the damage.

The A’s bullpen, one-time beleaguered, turn in a gem. Winning pitcher Mujica (2-1, 3.44) pitched 1 2.3 scores with a pair of Ks, before turning the game over to Evan Scribner. Scribner picked up the hold, punching out two Astros over his two innings of work, making way for Tyler Clippard to convert his 4th save of the campaign on a 1-2-3 inning.

The A’s now are poised to win the series with ace Sonny Gray taking the mound opposite Roberto Hernandez and his 4.12 ERA. Wednesday’s finale features Jesse Hahn going toe-to-toe with Dallas Keuchel, the top arm in Astros manager A.J. Hinch’s rotation.