Sacramento A’s centerfielder Denzel Clarke (1) can’t quite reach Houston Astros Jose Altuve’s two run home run in the bottom of the fourth inning at Daikin Park in Houston on
A’s Woes Continue With 11-1 Astros Scoring Clinic in Houston
By Mauricio Segura
By the time the sun had set over Daikin Park, the A’s were gasping for air under a deluge of offense from the Houston Astros. What started as a hopeful outing after breaking their 11-game skid on Sunday, quickly turned into a sobering reminder of how far the green and gold have slipped in just a matter of weeks.
Behind a vintage performance from Jose Altuve and another rocky outing for starter JP Sears, the A’s fell 11–1 on Tuesday night, dropping to 23–32 on the season.
The A’s came into the game with some promise. Miguel Andujar carried a 12-game hitting streak, Lawrence Butler was swinging a hot bat, and the team had shown signs of offensive life lately, batting nearly .300 over their last six games.
But none of that mattered to the Astros, who wasted no time pouncing on Sears in the second inning with a sequence that foreshadowed the lopsided night ahead.
Houston plated four in the second on a sharp double from Chas McCormick, another from Mauricio Dubón, and a two-run homer off the bat of Jeremy Peña. It only got worse in the third when Altuve launched the first of his two home runs, a solo shot that extended the lead to 5–0.
By the time Altuve returned to the plate in the fourth, he followed a Peña single with a second homer, his eighth of the season, putting the game completely out of reach at 9–1.
For Sears, it was his third straight loss and another step back in what had once been a strong campaign. After an impressive April, the lefty has now allowed ten home runs in May and was pulled in the fourth inning after giving up nine hits and seven earned runs, pushing his ERA to 4.40.
Not much went right for the A’s on either side of the ball. Offensively, they struck out 13 times and grounded into two double plays, including one with the bases loaded in the sixth that could have brought the team back into the game. Butler provided the lone highlight, launching a solo homer in the fourth for his eighth of the year, continuing an impressive stretch in which he’s gone 12-for-36 over his last nine games.
Rookie Denzel Clarke did notch his first Major League hit in the sixth, a soft single to third, but it was largely symbolic on a night when the green and gold were outplayed in every facet. A’s outfielder Drew Avans added his own milestone with a single in the ninth, also his first career hit, while Miguel Andujar extended his hit streak to 13 games, offering a small bright spot in an otherwise long evening.
The loss continues a brutal stretch for the Athletics, who have now dropped 16 of their last 20. Their starting rotation has not recorded a win in 13 games, and the bullpen, once again taxed, surrendered another pair of runs, including a two-run homer by Christian Walker in the sixth that sealed the Astros’ blowout.
Next up Wednesday, the A’s turn to Luis Severino in hopes of salvaging the short two-game set before heading north to Toronto. The right-hander has been strong on the road, but he’ll need support from both the offense and a weary bullpen if the A’s hope to avoid another sweep at the hands of an American League West foe.
Costa Rican-born Mauricio Segura has been covering sports in the Bay Area since 2001 for a variety of magazines and newspapers, as well as his own publication, Golden Bay Times.










