Houston is now 6-7

Astros drop third-straight as Oakland gets walk-off win in extras

Astros Zack Greinke
Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images

Astros Zack Greinke

Two teams at opposite ends of the momentum spectrum met on Friday night, with the Astros dropping the final two games in Arizona against the Diamondbacks to fall 2.5 games back in the division, and the A's on a six-game winning streak on top of the AL West. The first of three games this weekend went like this:

Final Score (13 innings): A's 3, Astros 2.

Record: 6-7, second in the AL West.

Winning pitcher: J.B. Wendelken (1-0, 0.00 ERA).

Losing pitcher: Cy Sneed (0-2, 7.50 ERA).

Houston scores first

After two scoreless innings on both sides, the Astros would get on the scoreboard first in the top of the third. Martin Maldonado was able to work a one-out walk, moved to second on a wild pitch, then scored on an RBI-double by Kyle Tucker to put Houston ahead 1-0.

Greinke looks dominant

Zack Greinke meanwhile was getting into a rhythm on the mound. He allowed just three hits over the first scoreless inning before facing his first big test in the bottom of the fifth. After a hit-by-pitch with one out, he would allow a single then walk the bases loaded. He would follow that by getting a timely groundball to set up an inning-ending double play.

In the next inning, what likely should have been a leadoff single turned into a triple as Myles Straw would slip while fielding the ball in shallow center field, allowing the ball to go back to the wall. Greinke would work around it, though, and strand the runner by retiring the next three Oakland batters in order. His final line: 6.0 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 0 HR.

A's tie it up as game goes to extras, Oakland comes away with the win

Recently moved back to the bullpen after two short, disappointing starts, Josh James would take over on the mound for Greinke in the bottom of the seventh. He would allow a one-out solo home run to tie the game and take Greinke out of winning position. James would go on to complete the inning before Andre Scrubb would enter for the bottom of the eighth and work around a one-out walk for a scoreless inning to send the 1-1 game to the ninth. After stranding a runner in the top of the ninth, Houston sent Ryan Pressly out to attempt to reverse the outcome of Thursday night where he allowed the walk-off to the Diamondbacks. He would get it done, retiring the A's in order to send the game to extra innings.

Myles Straw was on second to start the top of the tenth and was bunted over to third by Martin Maldonado. Instead of getting a sac fly to bring Straw in, a strikeout would bring Jose Altuve to the plate with two outs, who would groundout on an excellent defensive play by Matt Chapman to keep it tied. In the bottom half of the inning, Enoli Paredes would be next out of Houston's bullpen, and after the A's deployed the same strategy of bunting the runner over, would be retired by two big strikeouts by Paredes to extend the game another frame.

In the top of the eleventh, Altuve would start on second base but was unable to advance as Houston would only manage a walk. Paredes would look to provide one more scoreless inning in the bottom half, and despite facing the bases loaded with two outs, was able to extend the game again. Carlos Correa started the twelfth on second and moved to third on an infield single by Josh Reddick to put runners on the corners with no outs. They would waste the opportunity, with the next three batters unable to score the go-ahead run. Humberto Castellanos would pitch the bottom of the twelfth, and he too would come away with a scoreless inning.

On to the thirteenth inning, they went. Jose Altuve would move the runner to third with a sac fly, then Alex Bregman would finally get a run on the board with an RBI-double to put Houston ahead 2-1. In the bottom half, Cy Sneed would take over on the mound as Oakland hit a sac fly to move their runner to third. Sneed would get a strikeout for the second out but then allowed the tying RBI. Oakland would then get the walk-off hit against Sneed, handing Houston their third-straight loss.

Up Next: The middle game of this series will get started at 3:10 PM on Saturday. After an impressive 6.1 inning appearance out of the bullpen on Sunday against the Angels, Framber Valdez (0-1, 2.53 ERA) will take the mound for the Astros. Oakland will look to Frankie Montas (1-1, 2.25 ERA).

Most Popular

SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome

Listen Live

ESPN Houston 97.5 FM
Is CJ Stroud recovering from a surgery? Photo by Alex Slitz/Getty Images.

Coming out of Tuesday's Texans press conference, it feels like we may have been left with more questions than answers.

Head coach DeMeco Ryans continued to downplay CJ Stroud's “soreness” that has kept him from throwing at OTAs.

I noted in my article on Tuesday, that it I found it interesting that Ryans dodged a question from ESPN's DJ Bien-Aime about Stroud's availability for next week's mandatory minicamp.

However, Mike Florio of NBC Sports' biggest takeaway from the press conference really raised some red flags. When Ryans was asked if Stroud had any work performed on him in the offseason, his body language shifted dramatically. He started aggressively adjusting the sleeves on his shirt and looking quite uncomfortable. Seth Payne shared some similar thoughts on his YouTube channel, too.

Florio makes a point in the video below that coaches have to be careful with their movements during these press conferences when asked tough questions. Or people will start reading into body language and wonder why the coach is refusing to answer further questions on the subject.

Something DeMeco did Tuesday after the “work” question. Media members suddenly become professional poker players looking for any tell.

That's a “no” from me dawg

Florio's co-host Chris Simms on the other hand wasn't buying it. He believes if there was any kind of procedure in the offseason, somebody would have heard about it.

He chalks up Stroud's absence to something much more minor, like tendonitis in the shoulder or elbow. KPRC 2's Aaron Wilson is reporting that his sources are telling him Stroud is dealing with tightness in his shoulder muscle. So it could be something as simple as that.

At the end of the day, let's hope Simms and Wilson are correct, and this isn't something we should worry about with the season still several months away.

But it is worth mentioning, CJ is learning a new offense and working with many new receivers that are expected to make an impact this year (Jayden Higgins, Jaylin Noel). A lot could be achieved by throwing to his new weapons and gaining experience in an unfamiliar system.

Something has to be bothering him enough to miss these valuable reps.

Be sure to check out the video below for the full conversation and see where you come out on the debate.

___________________________

Looking to get the word out about your business, products, or services? Consider advertising on SportsMap! It's a great way to get in front of Houston sports fans. Click the link below for more information!

https://houston.sportsmap.com/advertise

SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome