Tag: Houston Astros

Oakland A’s starter Frankie Montas delivers against the Houston Astros in the first inning of Thu Jul 8, 2021 game at Minute Maid Field (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s (50-39) needed their starter to find a way to stop the powerful Houston Astros’ (54-34) offense. Houston had won the first two games of the three-game series and increased their leas to 5 and 1/2 games over the A’s. Had the Astros won, they would have increased their lead to six and 1/2 games.

A’s manager Bob Melvin handed the ball to Frankie Montas to expect that Montas would shut down the Astros’ attack. Montas responded with, perhaps, his best performance of the season. Montas went six and 2/3rds innings, allowing the Astros one run and five. He struck out ten and walked one, as he won his eighth game of the year, leading the A’s to a 2-1 win.

The A’s scored all the runs they would need in the first inning. With one out, Elvis Andrus doubled. Astros’ starter, Lance McCullers, Jr. uncorked a wild pitch to send Andrus to third. Matt Olson doubled to drive in Andrus with the A’s first run. Jed Lowrie singled to drive in Olson to give the A’s the lead 2-0.

Montas had all four of his pitches working. He painted the corners with his four-seam fastball. He had command of his slider, splitter, and changeup. He was moving the ball up and down in the zone. He threw 95 pitches, and 71 were strikes. He struck out the side in the first and second innings.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Astros finally put a run on the board. Montas recorded the first two outs. Astros’ right-fielder, Kyle Tucker, doubled to start the Astro rally. He went to third on a wild pitch. Astros’ centerfielder, Chas McCormick, followed with a double to drive in Tucker with Houston’s first run. A’s manager, Bob Melvin, brought in Yusmeiro Petit to pitch to Abraham Toro. Petite got Toro to ground out to end the inning. 

Lou Trivino pitched the eighth for Oakland. Trivino walked Jason Castro to start the frame. A’s fans got a little nervous as they know the cardinal sin for any reliever is to walk the first man he faced in the inning. Trivino now had the unenviable task of facing the Astros’ three best hitters. Trivino was not fazed at all.

He got Jose Altuve to hit into a fielder’s choice, Michale Brantley to fly out to right, and Carlos Correa hit a popup to Tony Kemp at second base. Bob Melvin had Jake Diekman pitch the ninth. Diekman gave up a single to Yordano Alvarez to start the bottom of the ninth.

He got the next hitter, Yuli Guriel, to hit into a 6-4-3 double play. He retired Kyle Tucker on a soft line to Tony Kemp to preserve to win for Oakland. The A’s win a very close game 2-1.

Game Notes and Stats- with the win, the A’s are 50-39 for the years and are 4 1/2 games back of the first-place Astros. Houston is now 54-34. The line for Oakland was two runs, eight hits, and no errors. Houston’s line was one run, six hits, and one error.

The A’s pitching did an excellent job of holding down the Houston offense. Houston has averaged 5.5 runs per game so far this season.

The A’s are 4-9 against Houston this year. In all four victories, A’s pitchers have held the Houston Offense to less than six runs. The Astros have scored six or more runs in eight of the nine wins against Oakland.

Ramon Laureano, Elvis Andrus, and Jed Lowrie each had two hits on Thursday. Frankie Montas improved to 8-7. Lou Trivino earned a hold, and Jake Diekman recorded his seventh save of the season.

The first four hitters in the Astro Lineup were one-for sixteen against the A’s. Yordano Alvarez’s single in the ninth was the only hit. Bob Melvin commented after the game about Montas’ performance. It applied to all four of the A’s pitchers:”Every pitch meant something.”

Injury update: Chad Pinder was placed on the 10-day IL. Pinder injured his right hamstring running to first base on the last play of Wednesday night’s game. After running across the base, he grabbed the back of his leg as he fell to the ground. The A’s do not know how much time Pinder will need to recover.

The time of Thursday’s game was 2:52. 29,243 fans did not see their Astros win.

The A’s are on their way to Arlington, Texas, to play a three-game series with the Texas Rangers. The Rangers are 4-3 against the A’s this year. Hopefully, the momentum for Thursday’s win will continue for the A’s this weekend. After the series, the A’s are off until July 16th. They will resume play after the annual All-Star game break against the Cleveland Indians at the Coliseum.

The pitching matchups for the series will see lefty Cole Irvin go for Oakland Friday night. Texas will send Jordan Lyles to the hill. On Saturday, it will be James Kaprielian going against Mike Folynewicz. Folty has been tough on the A’s in the two games he has pitched for the Rangers. On Sunday, Chriss Bassitt will be on the mound for the A’s, and Texas will counter with lefty Kolb Allard.

Friday night’s game at Globe Life Stadium will begin at 5:05 pm.

The Matts at Bats Matt Olson (28) and Matt Chapman (right) jump for joy over after Olson hit a first inning home run against the Texas Rangers Tue Jun 29, 2021 at the Oakland Coliseum (AP file photo)

On the Oakland A’s podcast with Jerry F:

#1 Jerry, talk about how amazing it is at the thought that A’s outfielder Mark Canha could be back to work by this weekend for the Texas Rangers series.

#2 Jerry, the report is there is no structural damage on his left hip, Canha was on the Injured List and did have tendinitis. Canha has hurt that same hip before.

#3 A’s designated hitter Mitch Moreland is out for undisclosed reasons and is expected out until the All Star Break. It was reported that he is out for a no related baseball issue.

#4 Matt Olson will be taking his cuts at the All Star game in the home run derby Olson has 83 hits and 20 home runs and is hitting .283

#5 The Coliseum site is up for grabs with such groups as the African American Sports and Entertainment Group, Tripp Development, Dave Stewart and Lonnie Murray, the Renaissance Companies and the A’s. The Oakland City Council is waiting to see what happens with the A’s vote at Howard Terminal. If it’s a thumbs down for Howard Terminal the A’s will leave for Las Vegas. The other groups will bid on the property to develop. Talk has it that the WNBA and indoor arena football are interested in coming to the Coliseum Arena.

Join Jerry for the A’s podcasts Thursdays at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

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

The Houston Astros Yordan Alvarez who hit two home runs hits a three run homer in the fifth inning at Minute Maid Field in Houston on Tue Jul 6, 2021 (AP News photo)

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Oakland A’s (49-38) opened the three-game set with the Houston Astros (53-33) Tuesday night at Minute Maid Park. The A’s sent their ace, Chris Bassitt, to the mound hoping Bassitt could find a way to slow down the potent Astro offense.

It was not an easy task as the Astros lead the AL in runs, team batting average(.273), and OPS (.794). The Astros are fourth in the league with 109 homers. The Astros are patient hitters and get lots of walks. They don’t strike out much either.

The Astros’ Michael Brantley l is the best hitter in the AL with a .340 batting average. Yuli Guriel, hitting behind Brantley, entered the game with a .322 average. Bassitt did not find the way; the Astros came back from an early 6-2 deficit to win 9-6.

The A’s plated three runs in the top of the first. Oakland greeted Astros’ starter Framber Valdez with five hits to get off to a great start. The Astros answered with two in their half of the first. With one out, Bassitt walked Michael Brantley. He retired Guriel for the second out. He did not get by Yordano Alvarez. The big guy blasted his 15th of the year to make it 3-2.

The A’s put three more on the board in the second. Three hits and a throwing error by Astros’ catcher Martin Maldonado gave the A’s a 6-2 lead midway through the second inning.

Alvarez led off the bottom of the fourth with a single. Third baseman Abraham Toro singled, sending Alvarez to second. Myles Straw singled to drive in Alvarez with Houston’s third run. The A’s led 6-3 after four complete. Things went south for Bassitt in the bottom of the fifth.

Astros’ second baseman, Jose Altuve, doubled. Altuve went to third on a Guli Guriel single. Bassitt now had to face Alvarez again, Alvarez hit his second dinger of the night into the Crawford Boxes in left field to tie the game at 6-6. Alvarez had driven in five of the Astros’ six runs.

The Astros scored three more times in the sixth. Three singles and two put the runs on the board for Houston. The Astros had scored seven unanswered runs to lead 9-6.

The Astros bullpen held the A’s to three singles and no runs after the second inning. The Astros win 9-6.

Game Notes and stats- With the loss, the A’s are 49-38. They are now 4 and 1/2 games behind the Astros. The Astros improved to 53-33.

Elvis Andrus had a double, two singles, and an RBI to lead the Oakland offense. Ramon Laureano and Jed Lowrie each had two hits.

Yordano Alvarez was the hitting star for Houston. Alvarez had three hits, including two home runs. He had five RBIs. Abraham Toro and Myles Straw each had two hits.
The time of the game was three hours and sixteen minutes. Twenty-six thousand three hundred fifty-three fans watched their Astros win.

A’s manager will send Sean Manaea to the hill to pitch for Oakland. The big left is 6-5 with a 3.13 ERA. Astros’ manager Dusty Baker will counter with righty Luis Garcia. Garcia’s numbers are very similar to Manaea’s. Garcia is 6-5 with a 3.14 ERA.

The game will start at 5:10 pm.

Oakland A’s starter Chris Bassitt throwing against the Texas Rangers Wed Jun 30, 2021 at the Oakland Coliseum will pitch against the Houston Astros Tue Jul 6, 2021 at Minute Maid Field (AP News file photo)

On the A’s podcast with Barbara:

#1 Barbara the Oakland A’s (49-36) are hoping to turn up the heat just a little bit after their series with the Boston Red Sox. The A’s are now chasing the Houston Astros (51-33) in the American League West by just 3.5 games.

#2 The A’s who won Saturday in 12 innings are starting to show that fight again something that was concerning in the previous series at home against the Texas Rangers (33-50).

#3 Tony Kemp has been a huge help during the Red Sox (52-32) series on Saturday despite making an error he was all over defensively including chasing a shallow pop in left field that he couldn’t quite reach, at the bat Kemp hit a sacrifice fly that scored Seth Brown in the 12th inning for the game winner.

#4 Just an update on right fielder Steven Piscotty, Piscotty is played in a rehab game on Sunday and again later tonight at the A’s single A affiliate in Stockton. Piscotty hit second during the rehab game and is expected to be back in the show in Houston on Tuesday night.

#5 Barbara the A’s open up a three game series against the Houston Astros Tuesday night at Minute Maid Field the A’s will start Chris Bassitt (9-2 ERA 3.04) he’ll be matched up against Framber Valdez (5-1 ERA 2.18) set this one up for us.

Join Barbara for the A’s podcasts each Monday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

The Houston Astros Martin Maldonado (right) takes catcher Sean Murphy (left) and the Oakland A’s deep in the fourth inning for a two run home run at the Oakland Coliseum on Thu May 20, 2021 (AP News photo)

Houston 8 – 14 – 0

Oakland 4. – 8 – 1

By Lewis Rubman

Thu May 20, 2021

OAKLAND–You don’t have to be the village explainer to understand that the modern pitching format of a six to seven inning starting performance + two or three relief specialists is fine if all of those moving parts are functioning properly on the same day. If not, not.

Wednesday night’s A’s defeat at the hands of the Houston Astros 8-1 and their own bullpen was an example. The struggling Frankie Montás, after an extremely rocky first inning, pitched gutsy but uneconomically through five frames, throwing 98 pitches in the process and managed to hold his opponents scoreless after a first inning that boded disaster and yielded three runs.

The A’s pitchers who followed him did not. Especially concerning was Sergio Romo’s brief stint on the mound, since he had been showing signs of breaking out of his early season funk and becoming a key member of the bullpen staff.

But, as Scarlette O’Hara observed, tomorrow is another day, and Thursday afternoon at the Oakland Coliseum it was left handed Cole Irvin (3-4, 3.02) who toed the rubber against Houston’s right handed starter Luis García in the rubber match of this important three game series, which would have been crucial had it occurred later in the season. Unfortunately for the A’s the hitting prowess of Jose Altuve and Martin Maldonado proved too much as the Astros took two out of three from the A’s winning Thursday 8-4.

This time it was Oakland that jumped ahead early. Mark Canha led off by blasting his eighth home run on García’s second offering, a 90 mph fast ball that landed 374 feet from home over the low fence in left field. The one run lead Canha’s homer gave Oakland soon was gone with the wind. Myles Straw led off the top of the third with a single to left.

He scored on Martín Maldonado’s double to left. The slow moving Maldonado was helped in his attempt to stretch his hit by the trouble Canha had in fielding it. Irvin walked Altuve before yielding a single to right center to Michael Brantley, which enabled Maldonado to score and the fleet footed Altuve to reach third. Alex Bergman’s single to center made it 3-1 with runners on first and second and still no one out. Irvin got out of that jam by striking out Yordán Alvarez and getting Yuli Gurriel to hit a bouncer to Chapman at third for an inning ending U5-3 double play.

The A’s came roaring back in their half of the third. Tony Kemp, wearing sparkling shoes that could have taken Dorothy back to Kansas the way they glilstened in the afternoon sun, led off by launching his first round tripper of the year, a 352 foot no doubter into the right field seats, on a 91 mph fastball. But all that Oakland could add to that was Canha’s base on balls.

Maldonado, who came into the game with the gross batting average of .144 and already had hit a questionably scored double in the third, hit an unquestionable home run in the fourth. Tucker was on second with two outs when the Astros’ backstop hit his third dinger of the year, 388 feet into the right field stands on an 89 mph fast ball. lt seemed that with each step forward, the A’s took two steps back. Houston now led 5-2.

Burch Smith relieved Irvin to start the sixth. He lasted five innings, giving up five runs, all earned, on eight hits, including one home run, and two walks, throwing 86 pitches, 55 for strikes, and was on the hook for the loss when he left the game.

The bottom half of the inning began with leftly Brooks Raley on the mound for Houston. García had thrown 92 pitches, 58 for stirkes, over five frames. He had allowed two runs, which were earned and had come on solo homers. His walk total was two, and his strike outs, seven. He was in line for the win on departing.

Oakland caught a break when Straw and Brantley couldn’t decide which of them would catch the fly ball Olson lifted into left center with one out, and it fell between them for a double. After Chapman flew out to Brantley in left, and Lowrie singled to right, scoring Olson and bringing the home team to within two runs of the visitors, whom they trailed, 5-3.

Houston got that run back in the top of the seventh. Altuve stretched his hitting streak to 14 on a single to left. Brantley then lined out to Kemp, who deliberately let the ball fall from his glove to the infield dirt and tlhrew to Andrus at second, hoping for. double play.

But first base umpire Chris Guccione would have none of that, and the play was ruled a line out with Altuve still safe at first. Bregman then doubled him home, and Oakland once more was looking at a three run deficit. They also were looking at the offerings of Bryan Abreu, who came in to pitch the seventh for the Astros.

The crafty but thwarted Tony Kemp greeted him with a double to left. Andrus hit a bounder to the mound, which caught Kemp in no man’s land between second and third, but he managed to stay in a rundown long enough for Andrus to reach second before Houston put Kemp out, 1-4-5.

Kemp’s heads up baserunning was as in vain as his attempted Little League trickery in the top of the inning had been. Both Canha and Brown grounded out, and that was it for the A’s in the seventh.

Reymin Gudjuan, who retired Houston with one hit in the ninth last night, came in and immediately gave up a hit, a double to left, to Correa. That was all he gave up.

Dusty Baker entrusted the job of holding the A’s at bay in the eigthth to Ryan Stanek. He hit the first batter he faced, Ramón Laureano, on the second pitch he threw. Five more pitches, and he’d walked Olson, putting two runners on with no outs and the resurgent Matt Chapman at the plate.

Chappy took him to 2-2, and then struck out swinging on a 99 mph fastball that he tipped into Maldonado’s mitt. It was a 98 mph fastball that got Lowrie swinging and missing for the strike out that made it two down. Now it was up to Sean Murphy. He walked, bringing up Kemp with the bases loaded. And that’s where Staneks’ labors ended, replaced by Ryan Pressly.

Kemp grounded out, second to first.

That was a letdown. What happened in the top of the ninth was a bigger one. Altuve singled to right. Laureano robbed Brantley of extra bases with his grab of a fly ln right in right center. Then Bregman singled to right, rifling a shot past Kemp.

Alvarez a grounder to Olson that had double play written all over it and threw to second for the force out. Andrus threw back to first, but wildly, allowing Altuve to score and Alvarez to move on to second. Gurriel drove him in from there on a single to center, and, for the second straight game, Houston had put up eight runs against the A´s. Seth Brown hit an anticlimactic home run to right, but it was too little, too late, and a called third strike on a full count to Laureano ended the frustrating day for the A’s.

The win went to García and the loss to Irvin. The A’s go to Anaheim to face the Angels in a three game set and will return to the Coliseum on the 24th to duke it out with Seattle. Melvin got ejected. The Astros now are in first place. And that’s that.

Oakland A’s designated hitter Mitch Moreland seen here turning on one for a two run homer against the Toronto Blue Jays in the second inning on Tue May 4, 2021 at the Oakland Coliseum (AP News file photo)

On the A’s podcast with Jerry F:

#1 How much will the A’s miss designated hitter Mitch Moreland out of the line up he was hitting .237 with 11 runs, four homers, and 15 RBIs he will be replace by Luis Barrera an outfielder who is considered the top outfielder in the minors.

#2 Moreland is out with a inflamed costochondral junction on his left rib, Jerry explain what this injury is like and how long will Moreland be on the injury list.

#3 Jerry, JB Wendelken started doing sock throws on Tuesday he’s expected to recover but talk about his exercises and how soon he can come back?

#4 According baseball metrics the A’s have one of the worst defensive teams in baseball A’s manager Bob Melvin said the A’s might be struggling to win Gold Glove Awards but they certainly aren’t the bottom of the food chain in the American League.

#5 It’s game two of the three game series at the Oakland Coliseum today at 12:37pm as the Houston Astros will start Luis Garcia (1-3 ERA 3.34) and for the A’s Cole Irvin (3-4 ERA 3.02). Irvin in his last outing threw for 6.2 innings and gave up only one run against the Twins.

Join Jerry each Thursday for the A’s podcast at http://www.sportsradioservice.com