Houston slips another game back in the division
Oakland secures series victory with walk-off win over Astros
With a win in the second game of Tuesday's doubleheader, the Astros were finally able to get their losing streak behind them. That provided them some momentum to take into Wednesday's game, the fourth of this five-game set in Oakland. Here's how the game went:
Final Score: A's 3, Astros 2.
Record: 22-22, second in the AL West.
Winning pitcher: Liam Hendricks (3-0, 1.40 ERA).
Losing pitcher: Ryan Pressly (1-2, 4.11 ERA).
Garcia with a terrific first MLB start
After an impressive major-league debut in relief on September 4th, where he went 4.1 innings while allowing one run to the Angels, Luis Garcia made his first MLB start on Wednesday in a big game against the division-leading A's. He didn't allow a baserunner until the bottom of the third when he allowed a leadoff walk but would erase that by retiring the next three batters.
The only hit he allowed was a two-out single in the fourth inning, but he again would work around it by retiring the next batter to end the inning. His third and final baserunner allowed was a two-out walk in the bottom of the fifth, but he would retire t1he next batter to finish five full innings, reaching his pitch limit for the night, but leaving in position for the win. Garcia's final line: 5.0 IP, 1 H 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 0 HR, 86 P.
Houston gets two big homers
No time to settle in! #ForTheH pic.twitter.com/Z4nYvMF4Ue
— Houston Astros (@astros) September 10, 2020
Garcia left in position for the win thanks to George Springer way back in the first inning. He started the game in the first at-bat with a leadoff solo home run to give the Astros an immediate 1-0 lead. Yuli Gurriel doubled that lead in the top of the sixth with a two-out solo shot of his own, making it a 2-0 game.
Walks in the seventh bite the Astros
Andre Scrubb took over for Garcia to start the bottom of the sixth and would face three batters, getting two outs while allowing a double, before Houston would go to their next reliever, Cionel Perez. He would give up a two-out walk before stranding both runners to end the sixth. Perez returned for the seventh, getting an out before issuing another walk, prompting another call to the pen.
Josh James would make his return after spending time on the IL and walked the first batter he faced. That would prove costly, as after getting the second out, the A's would hit a fly ball to left field, just short enough to cause Kyle Tucker to slide and misplay the ball. It would bounce away into the large bullpen area in Oakland Coliseum, tying the game by providing enough time for both walked batters to score.
Oakland walks it off to secure the series win
After the Astros went down scoreless quickly in the top of the inning, Enoli Paredes tried to keep it tied in the bottom of the eighth. He did so, working around a two-out double to send the 2-2 game to the ninth. Houston again was unable to score in the top of the ninth, as they would go to their closer Ryan Pressly to try and force extra innings.
Instead, Pressly would allow the walk-off to Oakland, walking the first batter, hitting another, before a two-out walk-off RBI to secure the series win for Oakland, who has won three games of this five-game set.
Up Next: The fifth and final game of this series will be on Thursday at 2:40 PM Central. Jose Urquidy (0-0, 4.91 ERA) will make his second start in 2020 after returning to the Astros last weekend, while Sean Manaea (3-2, 5.09 ERA) will make another start for the A's.
