The Houston Astros lost to the Athletics on Saturday by a final score of 4-3, which was headlined by a tough 8th inning from the mound.
The Houston Astros fell to the Athletics on Saturday night by a final score of 4-3, which now drops Houston to 65-65 on the year, ties the series with the Athletics at 1-1, and has the Astros only one game ahead of the Texas Rangers for the top spot in the AL West.
Additionally, with this loss the Astros now have a losing record at home as they are 33-34 at home so far this season. As the importance of each game continues to grow, the Astros must figure out a way to win more consistently at home, otherwise this race for the AL West title is going to be very difficult.
Now, it is time to take a look at what happened in this game and how the Astros can bounce back to take the series and find some kind of rhythm.
Starting with the pitching, Hunter Brown made the start for Houston and had a decent showing as he pitched 5.2 innings and allowed seven hits, one run, which was a home run, recorded one error, walked three batters, struck out four batters, and posted an ERA of 3.51.
Following Brown, the Astros put in AJ Blubaugh, who pitched 1.1 innings and was pretty solid as he allowed zero hits, zero runs, did not walk any batters, struck out two batters, and recorded an ERA of 3.29.
After Blubaugh, Houston put Bennett Sousa in the game, and he was not able to perform as well as the others. Sousa started the eighth inning, and in that time frame, he allowed two hits, three runs, tallied three errors, walked one batter, struck out zero batters, and posted an ERA of 4.86.
As a result of Sousa's struggles, the Astros pulled him and had Bryan Abreu pitch the final 1.2 innings. In the final 1.2 innings, Abreu allowed one hit, zero runs, had zero errors, walked one batter, struck out two batters, and totaled an ERA of 4.07.
Overall, the pitching for the Astros was decent, but Sousa's performance in the eighth inning was a tough showing and one of the main reasons why Houston went down and allowed the Athletics to tie the series. If the Astros want to win today, being able to pitch well deep into the game will be crucial.
In terms of the scoring, both the Astros and the Athletics had their fair share of moments which did make this game quite interesting.
To start it off, Donovan Walton hit a home run in the third inning to put the Athletics up 1-0. Then in the fourth inning, the Astros responded as Yainer Diaz doubled left and brought Christian Walker home to tie the game at 1-1.
A few innings later, in the seventh inning, Houston took a 2-1 lead with a Daulton Varsho home run. Then later in the seventh inning, Jeremy Pena singled, which allowed Lamonte Wade Jr. to score, extending the lead to 3-1 and giving Pena the opportunity to get to second. However, after Pena's single, the Astros were shut down for the rest of the game at the plate.
In the eighth inning, on a wild pitch from Sousa, Jeff McNeil scored, and Zack Gelof got to third, which cut the lead to 3-2. Shortly after that, Lawrence Butler singled and brought Gelof in to score, which tied the game at 3-3. Then, Jonah Heim grounded out, which gave Butler an opportunity to score and get Tommy White to third, with the Athletics now leading 4-3.
In the ninth inning, the Astros could not tie the game as Diaz and Cam Smith both struck out and Taylor Trammell hit a fly that allowed the Athletics to secure the win 4-3 and tie the series at 1-1.
For the Astros, this is now back-to-back series where they have been unable to defeat teams they are much better than, who also happen to be two of the worst teams in baseball and the two bottom teams in the AL West.
Heading into today's game, the Astros will be starting Christian Javier and the Athletics will be starting Brady Basso. Depending on how the Astros perform on the mound early on will dictate how this game goes and if manager Joe Espada needs to go deep in his bullpen to get the victory and take the series.
If the Astros can win this series, they should be able to find some momentum, but if they drop their second series in a row, their AL West lead could shrink and put them in a very tough position with the playoffs just around the corner.
