DROPPING BREGGY BOMBS!
Alex Bregman homers twice, drives in 4 runs as Astros pound Athletics
May 13, 2024, 10:07 pm
Astros defeat the A's, 9-2. Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images.
Alex Bregman homered twice and had a season-high four RBIs to lead the Houston Astros to a 9-2 win over the Oakland Athletics on Monday night.
Bye, baseball 👋 pic.twitter.com/AS0KGbclZi
— Houston Astros (@astros) May 14, 2024
Bregman homered off Oakland starter Ross Stripling (1-7) in the fourth inning, reminiscent of the homer he hit off Stripling in the 2018 All-Star Game. Bregman homered again in the seventh off Mitch Spence. Bregman entered Monday with just one homer in 144 at-bats this season but caught fire and had his sixth career multihomer game.
SECOND 💣 OF THE GAME FOR BREGGY pic.twitter.com/TlpBcccJRK
— Houston Astros (@astros) May 14, 2024
Bregman later added a double in the eighth that scored Trey Cabbage and Jeremy Peña to put Houston up 7-2. He entered Monday hitting .167 in May and .201 on the season.
The Astros have now won four of their last five, including a series win in Detroit. Oakland has lost four of five.
Astros starter Spencer Arrighetti (1-4) allowed two runs on five hits in five innings, while striking out five. Arrighetti has now pitched at least five innings in three straight starts after failing to get out of the fifth in his first three career starts.
The Astros went up 2-0 in the third inning after Kyle Tucker doubled to score José Altuve, who had reached base with two outs after Stripling hit him in the back of the thigh with an 0-2 sinker.
Altuve added an RBI single in the seventh to put Houston up 5-2. Victor Caratini followed Bregman’s eighth inning double with a two-run double of his own to make it 9-2.
Houston scored in the second inning when Oakland first baseman Tyler Soderstrom made a throwing error to third base that allowed Peña to score.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Athletics: RHP Paul Blackburn (stress reaction in right foot) was placed on the injured list on Monday, and Oakland recalled LHP Easton Lucas for his second stint with the club this year.
Astros: RHP José Urquidy, who hasn’t pitched this season because of an elbow injury, made his first rehab start at Triple-A Sugar Land on Sunday, throwing 2 2/3 innings and 46 pitches. … OF Chas McCormick (right hamstring discomfort) also made a rehab start at DH, going 2-for-5 with a double.
UP NEXT
RHP JP Sears (3-2, 4.20 ERA) will start the second game of the series for the Athletics against Houston on Tuesday night. Sears is 1-1 with a 4.79 ERA in four career appearances, including three starts, against Houston. RHP Ronel Blanco (4-0, 3.64) faces Oakland for the first time of his career.
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The Houston Astros passed their first test of the second half with flying colors by going to Seattle and taking two of three from the Mariners.
The Astros starting pitching managed to outduel Seattle's, only allowing eight runs in the series. Hunter Brown continues to look like a top of the rotation starter, and Framber Valdez has allowed 3 earned runs or fewer in six consecutive starts.
On the offensive side of the ball, Yainer Diaz and Yordan Alvarez are keeping the lights on as the team awaits the return of slugger Kyle Tucker.
In the meantime, the 'Stros have an important series with the Athletic's looming, followed by an epic clash with the Dodgers. It will be in the club's best interest to take care of business against the lowly A's, because wins could be tough to come by against LA.
Both the Mariners and Rangers have the White Sox on their schedule this week, so this appears to be a three horse race in the AL West as the trade deadline arrives next Tuesday and beyond.
Outside of pitching, first base continues to be the area where Houston could stand to upgrade. Both Jon Singleton and Mauricio Dubon have fallen back to Earth a bit. And The Athletic's Chander Rome reported that Yainer Diaz was taking ground balls at first base recently.
That's an interesting nugget considering the struggles of Singleton and Dubon. Plus, Victor Caratini is back with the team after being activated off the injury list.
Will Joe Espada give Diaz some starts at first base with Caratini back in the fold? Only time will tell. Having a hitter like Diaz playing catcher certainly gives the Astros an edge over many teams.
But at the same time, it's hard to find teams with worse options at first base than what Houston is running out there on a daily basis.
Be sure to watch the video above as we react to the series win over Seattle, look ahead to the upcoming matchups with the A's and Dodgers, and much more!
Plus, we examine how the Astros offense can take another step forward!
*Catch our weekly Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast. Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and Charlie Pallilo discuss varied Astros topics. The first post for the week generally goes up Monday afternoon (second part released Tuesday) via The SportsMap HOU YouTube channel or listen to episodes in their entirety at Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.