Houston is still seeking home-field for the ALDS
Astros drop opener of final regular-season series to Oakland
Oct 1, 2021, 11:20 pm
Framber Valdez allowed four runs including two homers in his final regular-season start on Friday. Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images
Framber Valdez allowed four runs including two homers in his final regular-season start on Friday.
With the division in hand, the Astros had another magic number to go after in the final regular-season series, and that was one win or a White Sox loss to ensure they'd have home-field advantage in the ALDS. Neither would come on Friday night, as Oakland would put together big innings to take the opener of the three-game series.
Final Score: A's 8, Astros 6
Astros' Record: 93-67, first in the AL West
Winning Pitcher: Sean Manaea (11-10)
Losing Pitcher: Framber Valdez (11-6)
Oakland tags Valdez with four runs
After a 1-2-3 first by Framber Valdez, Houston got on the board first in the bottom of the inning. A leadoff triple by Jose Siri set up an RBI single by Aledmys Diaz, making a 1-0 game. The one-run lead held until the top of the third, when a leadoff walk by Tony Kemp later turned into an RBI single, making it 1-1. Things got worse from there for Valdez, who allowed a go-ahead leadoff homer in the top of the fourth, then a two-run shot in the top of the sixth to end his night. His final regular-season line: 5.0 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, 2 HR, 82 P.
Runs keep coming for the A's
Phil Maton was Houston's first reliever, retiring the three batters he faced after coming in for Valdez to finish the sixth. The Astros got one run back in the bottom of the inning, with a two-out walk setting up an RBI double by Jake Meyers to make it a two-run game.
Cristian Javier was next out of the bullpen, and he worked around a single for a scoreless seventh. Oakland figured him out in the eighth, though, putting up a four-run inning to push the lead back to six runs on a couple of errors and an RBI single and RBI ground-rule double.
Astros drop the opener
Jake Meyers notched his second RBI of the night in the bottom of the eighth, driving in Carlos Correa, who led the frame off with a single, making it 8-3. Jason Castros brought the Astros back to within two runs in the next at-bat, getting a three-run homer to cut the lead to 8-6. Yimi Garcia held the score there with a scoreless top of the ninth, sitting down Oakland in order, including two strikeouts.
Houston started a rally attempt in the bottom of the ninth, getting two on base to bring the winning run to the plate, but would come away empty as Oakland would take the opener. The White Sox winning earlier in the evening leaves the Astros magic number at 1 to clinch home-field in the ALDS.
Up Next: The middle game of this series will get started at 6:10 PM Central on Saturday. Paul Blackburn (1-3, 4.71 ERA) will be on the mound for Oakland, while Houston will hand the ball to Jake Odorizzi (6-7, 4.14 ERA).
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Critical levers Astros can pull as health concerns, deadline pressures grow
Jul 10, 2025, 3:46 pm
Jake Meyers is the latest Astro to be rushed back from injury too soon. Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images.
Houston center fielder Jake Meyers was removed from Wednesday night’s game against Cleveland during pregame warmups because of right calf tightness.
Meyers, who had missed the last two games with a right calf injury, jogged onto the field before the game but soon summoned the training staff, who joined him on the field to tend to him. He remained on the field on one knee as manager Joe Espada joined the group. After a couple minutes, Meyers got up and was helped off the field and to the tunnel in right field by a trainer.
Mauricio Dubón moved from shortstop to center field and Zack Short entered the game to replace Dubón at shortstop.
Meyers is batting .308 with three homers and 21 RBIs this season.
After the game, Meyers met with the media and spoke about the injury. Meyers declined to answer when asked if the latest injury feels worse than the one he sustained Sunday. Wow, that is not a good sign.
Asked if this calf injury feels worse than the one he sustained on Sunday, Jake Meyers looked toward a team spokesman and asked "do I have to answer that?" He did not and then politely ended the interview.
— Chandler Rome (@Chandler_Rome) July 10, 2025
Lack of imaging strikes again!
The Athletic's Chandler Rome reported on Thursday that the Astros didn't do any imaging on Meyers after the initial injury. You can't make this stuff up. This is exactly the kind of thing that has the Astros return-to-play policy under constant scrutiny.
The All-Star break is right around the corner, why take the risk in playing Meyers after missing just two games with calf discomfort? The guy literally fell to the ground running out to his position before the game started. The people that make these risk vs. reward assessments clearly are making some serious mistakes.
The question remains: will the Astros finally do something about it?