A'S DEFEAT ASTROS
Rough night for Jake Bloss as A's defeat Astros 8-2
Jul 24, 2024, 9:16 am
A'S DEFEAT ASTROS
Lawrence Butler hit one of the Athletics’ five homers, fell a single short of the cycle and made a tremendous throw from right field to cut down a runner at the plate as Oakland beat the Houston Astros 8-2 on Tuesday night.
Brent Rooker, Seth Brown, Zack Gelof and Shea Langeliers also connected to help the A’s hand the AL West-leading Astros a second consecutive defeat.
Butler tripled and scored on Rooker’s two-run drive in the first inning, homered in the third and doubled in a run in the sixth. The longball was his eighth in July, and the A’s leadoff hitter leads the majors with 24 RBIs this month.
Needing a single to complete the A’s first cycle since 2007, Butler drew a five-pitch walk against Rafael Montero, raising a smattering of boos from the crowd of 5,896 at the Oakland Coliseum.
Victor Caratini and Jeremy Peña homered for the Astros.
Osvaldo Bido (2-1) struck out six in five innings in his second career start and first since May 8. Bido allowed four hits and one run.
The A’s, who entered the night tied with the St. Louis Cardinals for the major league lead in double plays turned, added to that list when Butler caught a fly ball and made a no-hop throw to nail Alex Bregman, who tagged up and tried to score from third.
Butler rode that momentum into his first at-bat with a leadoff triple against Jake Bloss (0-1). Three batters later, Rooker crushed an 0-1 fastball into the left field stands.
Rooker’s homer was his team-leading 23rd. Brown and Gelof connected for back-to-back shots off Bloss in the fourth. Langeliers’ 19th homer came against Seth Martinez in the seventh.
It was the fifth game this season in which the A's have hit four or more homers, tied for fifth-most in the majors.
Bloss allowed five runs and six hits in four innings of his third career start. He had five strikeouts and one walk.
Scott Alexander, Tyler Ferguson, Michel Otañez and T.J. McFarland each retired three batters for the A's.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Astros: OF Kyle Tucker (shin), sidelined since June 3, did some light defensive work Tuesday but is not yet ready for a rehab assignment, manager Joe Espada said.
UP NEXT
Astros RHP Hunter Brown (8-6, 4.14 ERA) faces the A’s in the series finale Wednesday. Brown owns an AL-leading 2.15 ERA since May 22. Oakland counters with LHP JP Sears (7-7, 4.49).
Jalen Green made eight 3-pointers and scored 38 points to lead the Houston Rockets to a 109-94 win over the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night in a testy matchup to even the first-round Western Conference series at one game apiece.
30 PTS through 3 quarters 🔥@JalenGreen https://t.co/Qj2MAu16Yz
— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) April 24, 2025
The seventh-seeded Warriors never led and played short-handed for most of the night after Jimmy Butler left with a pelvis contusion after a hard fall on a foul late in the first quarter.
Green, the No. 2 pick in the 2021 draft, rebounded from a flop in his playoff debut, when he scored just seven points on 3-of-15 shooting, with a dominant Game 2.
His eight 3-pointers were two more than the No. 2-seeded Rockets made on 6-of-29 shooting in a 95-85 Game 1 loss.
𝙏𝙐𝙁𝙁 step 🔙 pic.twitter.com/xGcq0fgwcX
— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) April 24, 2025
Alperen Sengun had 17 points and 16 rebounds for the Rockets. Tari Eason had 14 points off the bench.
𝙥𝙤𝙚𝙩𝙧𝙮 𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙤𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 🍿@alperennsengun pic.twitter.com/ll5Pge7R3q
— Houston Rockets (@HoustonRockets) April 24, 2025
Game 2 is Saturday night at Golden State.
Stephen Curry had 20 points and nine assists for the Warriors and become the 11th player in NBA history to reach 4,000 career playoff points with 4,017.
Houston led by 20 with about 10 minutes left before the Warriors used a 9-0 run, with two 3s from Quinten Post, run to get within 11. Jalen Green was called for a flagrant foul on Draymond Green at the end of that run after he flailed an arm into his face.
The Rockets then used an 8-0 spurt, highlighted by a step-back 3 from Green, to extend the lead to 99-80 with 5 ½ minutes remaining. Draymond Green received a technical foul in that stretch for arguing with officials and Eason received one for throwing a towel in an “unsportsmanlike manner.”
The loss of Butler, acquired from Miami in a February trade, was a huge blow to the Warriors after he had 25 points, seven rebounds and six assists in the series opener. On top of Butler’s injury, the Warriors were also hampered by Brandin Podziemski’s stomach ailment.
He missed most of the first half dealing with the problem and was scoreless in 14 minutes after scoring 14 points in Game 1.
Final Thoughts
Vanessa Richardson was joined by Sengun after the big win!
“I was telling him, we’ve earned this.”
Tonight, in their fourth season, Alperen Sengun & Jalen Green win their first playoff game. @SpaceCityHN | @HoustonRockets #Liftoff pic.twitter.com/56OctjGAgU
— Vanessa Richardson (@SportsVanessa) April 24, 2025