A'S DEFEAT ASTROS
Oakland Athletics score 2 runs in 12th to outlast Houston Astros 4-3
Sep 10, 2024, 10:46 pm
A's defeat the Astros, 4-3. Composite image by Jack Brame.
Zack Gelof homered early, Max Schuemann and Nick Allen drove in runs with 12th-inning bunts and the Oakland Athletics beat the Houston Astros 4-3 on Tuesday night.
With the score 2-2, Daz Cameron’s bunt single to start the 12th sent Gelof, the automatic runner, to third.
Schuemann then bunted to Héctor Neris (9-5), who spiked his throw home as Gelof scored on the sacrifice. Cameron to move to third on the error as the ball rolled in the field.
With runners at the corners, Allen bunted into a forceout that scored Cameron for a 4-2 lead.
Jose Altuve hit an RBI double leading off the bottom half off Hogan Harris (4-3), who retired the next three batters.
Bryan Abreu struck out the side in the 11th for Houston.
Houston had a runner on third with two outs in the 10th when Jeremy Peña hit a fly ball to right field. But Cameron made a diving catch to rob him of a hit and end the inning.
Jacob Wilson’s sacrifice bunt sent the automatic runner to third to start the 10th before Abreu struck out the next two batters.
Altuve singled off Scott Alexander with two outs in the ninth before Yordan Alvarez sent him to third on a groundball single that rolled just past diving second baseman Gelof. But Alexander struck out Tucker to send it to extra innings.
The Astros had a runner on first trailing with one out in the seventh when pinch-hitter Jon Singleton hit his first career triple off the wall in left-center to cut the lead to 2-1. Pinch-runner Jason Heyward took over for him and scored when Altuve hit a bloop single to shallow center field to tie it.
Oakland starter JP Sears allowed four hits and walked two in six scoreless innings.
Houston’s Spencer Arrighetti tied a season high by allowing seven hits with two runs in 6 2/3 innings. It was his first start since he permitted nine runs — three earned — while getting just two outs in a 12-5 loss to the Reds.
Brent Rooker hit a one-out single in the first and moved to third on a single by J.J. Bleday. The Athletics took the lead when Rooker scored on a sacrifice fly by Shea Langeliers.
Oakland extended the lead to 2-0 when Gelof sent the first pitch of the second inning to the train tracks atop left field for his 17th homer this season.
Trainer’s Room
Athletics: RHP Osvaldo Bido, who was scheduled to start Tuesday’s game, was instead placed on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to Sunday, with right wrist flexor tendonitis. … LHP Brady Basso and 1B/OF Ryan Noda were recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas and INF Tristan Gray was optioned to Las Vegas. … OF Miguel Andujar had core muscle surgery Tuesday with Dr. William Meyers at the Vincera Institute in Philadelphia. He will return to Oakland to begin rehabilitation.
Astros: OF Chas McCormick left in the middle of the fifth with right wrist discomfort.
Up Next
Houston RHP Hunter Brown (11-7, 3.41 ERA) opposes RHP Joey Estes (6-7, 4.46) when the series continues Wednesday night.
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The Houston Astros are headed to San Diego to face the Padres, maintaining a 4.5-game lead over the Mariners in the AL West. With just 13 games remaining in the season, winning the division isn’t guaranteed yet. However, it would take a major surge from Seattle paired with a significant collapse from Houston for the standings to shift.
The Astros starting pitching has been leading the way, and with Spencer Arrighetti, Hunter Brown, and Framber Valdez slated to start against the Padres, you have to like Houston's chances even against a quality club like San Diego.
Speaking of pitching, should the Astros go on to win the division, it will be interesting to see who pitches Game 3 of the first playoff series. We know Framber Valdez and Hunter Brown will pitch Games 1 and 2.
The clock is ticking for JV
It appears the Astros will give Justin Verlander every chance to win that assignment, but at this point, it's hard to justify his place on the playoff roster. He's clearly the team's sixth-best starter as of today.
Remember me?
Ronel Blanco reminded everyone of what he's capable of against the Angels over the weekend. While Justin Verlander was only decent against the Halos.
The Astros 3rd postseason starter will likely be determined by the opponent. But if we're just listing the pitchers we have the most confidence in right now, Yusei Kikuchi is at the top of the list. Arrighetti oozes with upside, but there's significant downside with him as well. You typically know very early in the game which version of Arrighetti you're going to get.
To be fair, Kikuchi doesn't have much postseason experience. But he's certainly pitched in more high stakes games than Arrighetti at this point in his career. Blanco will be the wild card to watch here, as he was the club's best starting pitcher for the first half of the season.
King Tuck
Finally, we're starting to feel good about Kyle Tucker. He appears to be getting healthy just in the nick of time.
Don't miss the video above as we examine all the advantages the Astros hold over the final stretch of the season, and much more!
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.