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 the Astros 8-2. Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images.
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).
The Houston Texans have a big challenge in store as they look to start the season with a win against the Colts this Sunday. When these two teams met in Week 2 last year, the Colts dominated the Texans, despite losing their QB Anthony Richardson to a concussion after the first quarter.
Keeping Richardson contained on Sunday will go a long way in increasing the Texans' chances of coming home with a win. The Texans defense will have their hands full containing the Colts backs and tight ends in the passing game.
Scoring touchdowns with their wide receivers could prove difficult, as the Texans allowed the second-fewest TDs (10) to the receiver position in 2023.
Limiting running back Jonathan Taylor will also be a top priority. While the Texans had an elite defense against the run last season, they struggled with Taylor in Week 18 as he almost rushed for 200 yards.
Houston's D allowed only four carries to running backs in 2023 that went for 20 or more yards. Two of which were to Taylor in the final game of the regular season.
Finally, DeMeco Ryans and company have to find a way to get pressure on the QB. They only had one QB hit and zero sacks on Richardson and Garner Minshew the first time they faced off last year.
On offense, the Texans have two big x-factors to watch for on Sunday. The offensive line that suited up to play the Colts in Week 2 last season is completely different from this year.
The o-line was ravaged with injuries to start the 2023 campaign, so we expect a big jump in productivity in the trenches this year.
Another big addition in 2024 is the presence of running back Joe Mixon. The running game only produced 2 yards per rush in Week 2 against Indy last year, so there's clearly room for improvement.
Be sure to watch the video above for our in-depth preview of Texans-Colts!
And catch Texans on Tap (a Texans podcast) live on our SportsMapTexans YouTube channel following every game this season!