Houston's first loss of the postseason
Oakland forces Game 4 by outslugging Astros in ALDS Game 3
Oct 7, 2020, 6:15 pm
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.
'Tuve tied it. #ALDS pic.twitter.com/4LREIO4fNb
— MLB (@MLB) October 7, 2020
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.
A 4-run 5th #ForTheH and the @Astros are back on top. #ALDS pic.twitter.com/JFJaMejpXo
— MLB (@MLB) October 7, 2020
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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So what’s powering the Astros’ recent run? It starts with elite pitching. Despite an offense that's been merely middle-of-the-pack — 14th in OPS, 20th in runs scored, and 17th in slugging — Houston ranks fifth in team ERA and leads the majors in batting average against (.218). That’s how they’re winning series while missing key pieces of their core.
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The Astros might be banged up, but they’re thriving and proving they don’t need to be at full strength to play like contenders.
There's so much more to cover! Don't miss the video below as we examine the topics above and much, much more!
The MLB season is finally upon us! Join Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and Charlie Pallilo for the Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast which drops each Monday afternoon, with an additional episode now on Thursday.
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