The Athletics opened their three-game set against the Astros with a chance to stop the slide, but instead they walked into another quiet night at the plate. Houston handled business from there, taking the series opener 4-0 in a game that never really felt close.
It started with a couple of early openings for both clubs that went nowhere. Houston threatened right away after J.T.
Ginn couldn’t put away the first two hitters he saw, but the A’s right-hander worked out of trouble. In the third, Donovan Walton gave Oakland its first hit with one out, then stole second with two outs, only for Hayden Wesneski to strand him by getting Jeff McNeil to pop out.
The Astros finally broke through in the fourth. A leadoff walk and a double set the table, and Christian Walker brought home Isaac Paredes with a sacrifice fly for a 1-0 lead. Ginn limited the damage from there, and Carlos Cortes came up with a strong play at the wall to deny Yainer Diaz what could have been an RBI extra-base hit.
Houston added on in the fifth, and that was really the separation point. Nick Allen, who had walked, scored on Yordan Alvarez’s two-out RBI double. Then Paredes followed with an RBI double of his own, pushing the Astros ahead 3-0 and leaving the A’s with a long climb.
Oakland never found the answer against Wesneski. The Astros starter worked five scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and three walks while piling up four strikeouts. He also kept the A’s chasing pitches outside the zone, and the result was a steady stream of groundouts and popouts with no real pressure on the scoreboard.
The A’s did get a brief opening against Houston’s bullpen in the sixth when singles by McNeil and Cortes put Lawrence Butler in the box as the tying run. Butler, who has struggled since signing his contract extension, struck out on three pitches, and the threat vanished.
Ginn’s line ended at three runs on six hits over five innings. The two batters he walked both scored, and that proved costly. Elvis Alvarado came on and threw a scoreless sixth for Oakland.
The A’s had another chance in the seventh after Heim and Walton drew back-to-back walks with one out against Bryan Abreu, but once again they couldn’t cash in. Houston then answered in the bottom half when Drew Rom gave up Alvarez’s second two-out RBI double of the game, making it 4-0.
Oakland’s last shot came in the ninth, but Walton grounded out to finish the game with Heim stranded at second. The A’s managed only three singles in the shutout, went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position, and left eight runners on base as they finished a winless week at 49-80.
The five-game losing streak will be on the line again tomorrow afternoon, when A’s left-hander Jacob Lopez is scheduled to face Astros right-hander Hunter Brown.
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