ASTROS WALK IT OFF
Astros get win over A's after Blanco ejected early for foreign substance
May 14, 2024, 10:48 pm
Astros win again!. Photo by Logan Riely/Getty Images.
Victor Caratini hit an RBI single in the 10th inning to lift Houston to a 2-1 win over the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday night after the Astros lost their starting pitcher when Ronel Blanco was ejected following a foreign substance check.
The game was tied at 1 when pinch-runner Trey Cabbage replaced Jon Singleton as the automatic runner on second in the bottom of the 10th. Cabbage moved to third on a flyball by Jake Meyers before Caratini hit a grounder to center off Michael Kelly (2-1) to give the Astros their fifth win in six games.
Josh Hader (2-3) got the win by escaping a jam in the top of the 10th. With one out and runners on second and third, the veteran closer struck out pinch-hitter Esteury Ruiz before Brent Rooker grounded out to end the threat.
Oakland tied it at 1 in the eighth. Abraham Toro led off with a ground-rule double down the left-field line off Ryan Pressly. Toro moved to third on a groundout by JJ Bleday and scored on Rooker's single.
Houston had led 1-0 since Alex Bregman opened the second with a drive to left off JP Sears for his fourth homer. He also went deep twice Monday night.
Bregman doubled in the fourth to become the first player in franchise history with an extra-base hit in five straight at-bats. He became the first major leaguer to accomplish the feat since Yankees star Aaron Judge last season.
Bregman’s streak ended when he grounded out for the second out of the sixth.
Blanco was ejected by third base umpire Laz Diaz after a check of his glove before the start of the fourth. The umpires, Blanco and Houston manager Joe Espada stood at the mound for a couple of minutes discussing the issue before the right-hander was thrown out.
Blanco held out his hands and patted them together in front of the umpires while they inspected his glove before he was ejected, and he did the motion again after he was tossed. Blanco’s glove was confiscated.
Blanco, who threw a no-hitter in his season debut, allowed four hits and struck out one. He has a 2.09 ERA this season.
MLB began cracking down on foreign substances in June 2021, and Blanco likely will face a 10-game suspension for the infraction.
Sears allowed five hits in five innings.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Athletics: 2B Zack Gelof was reinstated from the injured list after missing 20 games with a strained left oblique. Gelof returned after making two rehabilitation appearances for Triple-A Las Vegas this weekend. Oakland optioned OF Lawrence Butler and LHP Easton Lucas to Las Vegas and recalled LHP Brady Basso from Double-A Midland.
Astros: OF Chas McCormick (right hamstring) resumed a rehabilitation assignment with Double-A Corpus Christi. He went 0 for 2 with an RBI in his second rehab game.
UP NEXT
Oakland RHP Aaron Brooks will make his season debut against LHP Framber Valdez (2-1, 3.64 ERA) when the series continues Wednesday night.
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Coming off a 10-win regular season and an appearance in the divisional round of the playoffs, expectations are high for the Houston Texans in 2024.
However, coach DeMeco Ryans is only concerned with what is happening inside the team.
“We have a lot of room for improvement, and my expectations and what I expect to see from everyone is just get a little better each day,” Ryans said. “If we get a little bit better each day, we'll be exactly where we want to be.”
The day before starting his second training camp as Texans head coach, Ryans told his players they should expect more from themselves than anyone else.
“Nobody on the outside is going to have a bigger expectation than on the inside of the building,” defensive end Will Anderson Jr. said. “Right now, our expectation is just building that building, building a tall building."
After combining for just 11 wins from 2020-2022, Houston surprised many to win the AFC South before beating the Cleveland Browns in the wild-card round. The Texans likely won’t catch anyone by surprise this season.
“It’s gonna be harder,” quarterback C.J. Stroud said. “We have a target on our back this year, and that’s how you should want it.”
The emergence of Stroud is a big reason why so much is expected of the Texans in 2024. The second overall pick of the 2023 draft threw for 4,108 yards and 23 touchdowns on his way to being the AP Offensive Rookie of the Year.
“C.J. has done a really good job this offseason, as a leader when it comes to working with other guys,” Ryans said. “Knowing that he’s not just working by himself, but finding the avenues to get a group together and work together. That’s very important, especially when it comes to timing in the passing game.”
The Texans added talent around Stroud over the offseason, acquiring Pro Bowl receiver Stefon Diggs from Buffalo and Pro Bowl running back Joe Mixon from Cincinnati before the draft.
Mixon will help a Texans rushing offense that averaged just 3.7 yards per carry, fifth worst in the NFL last season, while Diggs, who has finished with more than 100 catches the past four seasons, joins a passing attack that returns its five leading pass catchers.
“I’ve been watching Diggs for a while,” wide receiver Nico Collins said. “I was in middle school, and he was in Minnesota making plays, so it’s just crazy that he’s part of the squad.”
On the other side of the ball, the Texans signed four-time Pro Bowl defensive end Danielle Hunter to a two-year, $49 million contract after a 16 1/2 sack season with the Minnesota Vikings to pair with Anderson, the 2023 AP Defensive Rookie of the Year, on the defensive line.
Expectations are lofty for a team that has not advanced to a conference championship game in its 22-year history, but Stroud and his teammates aren’t shying away from those expectations.
“That’s how it should be,” Stroud said. “The person that always doubts himself probably will never make it to that point, so you gotta have confidence and have a goal and a plan and execute that plan.”