Houston's first loss of the postseason

Oakland forces Game 4 by outslugging Astros in ALDS Game 3

Astros Jose Urquidy
Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

Jose Urquidy exiting after allowing four solo home runs to Oakland

Undefeated thus far in the postseason, including the first two games of this best-of-five ALDS, the Astros could sweep the Oakland A's and advance to the ALCS for their fourth-straight year with a win in Game 3. Here is how the game unfolded Wednesday:

Final Score: A's 9, Astros 7.

Series: HOU leads 2-1.

Winning Pitcher: Liam Hendriks.

Losing Pitcher: Brooks Raley.

Teams trade early runs before A's homer their way to a lead

Oakland came out swinging in a must-win game against Jose Urquidy and would get on the board first as they switched to being the visitor team at Dodger Stadium. It came via a one-out solo home run by Tommy La Stella in the top of the first, netting the A's a quick 1-0 lead.

Houston responded right away in the bottom of the first, getting a one-out solo homer of their own by Jose Altuve to tie the game. They then took their first lead, getting an RBI-groundout by Carlos Correa to score Michael Brantley, who singled then moved to third on an Alex Bregman single.

Oakland would continue to pepper the scoreboard with solo home runs against Urquidy, though, with one in the top of the second, fourth, and fifth innings to regain the lead at 4-2, and chasing him out of the game in the fifth. His final line: 4.1 IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, 4 HR, 79 P.

Houston scores five in the fifth, A's tie it up again

After Blake Taylor would load the bases but strand them to finish the top of the fifth for Urquidy, the Astros went to work in the bottom half. They would put together a five-run bottom of the fifth, starting with a two-run homer by Aledmys Diaz to tie the game, followed by RBI hits for Michael Brantley, Alex Bregman, and Kyle Tucker, pushing the Astros in front 7-4.

Josh James was next out of Houston's bullpen for the top of the sixth and would erase a leadoff walk to keep the three-run lead. He returned for the top of the seventh, but the top of Oakland's order would knock him out with back-to-back singles to start the inning to set up a game-tying three-run homer by Chad Pinder to make it 7-7.

Oakland forces Game 4

Brooks Raley took over for James, getting the next three A's out in order, ending the half-inning. Like James before him, Raley would return to try and go another inning but would get tagged by Oakland, who would get two sac flies in the inning to go in front 9-7.

Houston would get the first two batters aboard in the bottom of the eighth but would strand both as Oakland retired the next three batters. Andre Scrubb was able to keep it a two-run game with a scoreless top of the ninth, but Liam Hendriks would complete his third inning of work for Oakland and finish off the win for the A's to force a Game 4.

Up Next: ALDS Game 4 will start at 2:35 PM Central on Thursday. The Astros will remain the home team for another game, with Oakland batting first as the visitors. The starting pitchers have not yet been announced.

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Expect big things from the Texans this season. Composite Getty Image.

With the NFL Draft right around the corner, Texans GM Nick Caserio met with the media to discuss the team's approach this year since they no longer have a first round pick. He also answered questions about the acquisition of Stefon Diggs, and addressed any concerns the team has about their new receiver having the reputation as a “diva.”

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