A'S DEFEAT ASTROS
Houston Astros bats go quiet in 4-0 loss to Athletics
Jul 22, 2024, 11:12 pm
A's defeat the Astros, 4-0. Composite Getty Image.
Hogan Harris and three relievers combined on an eight-hit shutout, and the Oakland Athletics beat the Houston Astros 4-0 on Monday night.
Harris (2-3) allowed seven hits in 6 2/3 innings and matched his career-high of seven strikeouts. The win was Harris’ first since June 18.
The game took 2 hours, 7 minute and was played in front of an announced crowd of 4,517
JJ Bleday had three hits while Lawrence Butler and Max Schuemann added two hits each to pace the A’s to their second win in eight games against the Astros.
Houston went into the day tied for first place with Seattle atop the AL West.
Oakland has the fifth-most errors (61) in the majors but turned three triple plays to match St. Louis for the most in baseball (103).
Austin Adams followed Harris and retired Alex Bregman on a swinging strikeout, ending a two-on, two-out threat in the seventh.
Lucas Erceg retired three batters, and Mason Miller pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to finish the game.
Yordan Alvarez doubled in four plate appearances after hitting for the the cycle against Seattle on Sunday. Jose Altuve and Jeremy Pena added two hits for the Astros.
The A’s got their sputtering offense going early, stringing together four consecutive one-out hits off Astros starter Spencer Arrighetti in the third.
Miguel Andujar doubled in a run with a drive down the left field line, and a second run scored when Astros left fielder Mauricio Dubón fumbled trying to retrieve the ball. Bleday followed with an RBI double to put the A’s ahead 3-0.
Schuemann singled in Zack Gelof in the fourth to make it 4-0.
Arrighetti (4-8) allowed seven hits and four runs in six innings.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Astros: Former All-Star INF Aledmys Díaz was called up from the Florida Coast League and added to the roster. Díaz, who began the season with Oakland before his release on July 5, played first base and went 0-for-3. … C Victor Caratini (hip) was activated off the 10-day Injured List. INF Greg Kessinger and C César Salazar were optioned to Triple-A Sugar Land. INF David Hensley was designated for assignment.
UP NEXT
Astros’ rookie RHP Jake Bloss (0-0, 4.70 ERA) faces Oakland in his third career start Tuesday. The A’s plan to go with RHP Osvaldo Bido (1-1, 3.44), who will be making his second start of the season after a stellar stint in the bullpen.
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!