MLB

Oakland Athletics at Houston Astros

· Major League Baseball
Oakland Athletics
45-99, 21-52 Away
Final
4 - 0
Houston Astros
82-63, 37-36 Home

Waldichuk holds Astros hitless in relief, A's launch 3 homers in 4-0 win to avoid 100th loss

Houston, which has a two-game lead in the AL West over Texas, fell to 9-2 against the last-place A's this season. Oakland improved to 45-99, delaying the team’s 100th loss for at least another day.

“They threw a good game against us,” Astros manager Dusty Baker said. “It doesn’t matter who you’re playing if a guy is dealing on the mound out there. They were dealing.”

Last season, Oakland went 60-102 following an 86-76 finish in 2021. The A’s need one more win in their final 18 games to assure they will avoid matching the franchise record of 117 losses in a season set when the team was in Philadelphia. The low mark in Oakland is 108 in 1979.

“We’ve had a few good games of late against some playoff-contending teams,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said. “But tonight — in terms of on the mound — this was probably the best pitching performance we’ve had all year.”

Shea Langeliers and Ryan Noda also had solo homers for the A's.

Oakland opener Mason Miller pitched two innings and allowed one hit. Waldichuk (3-7) entered in the third and gave up just two baserunners, on a walk and a hit by pitch.

“I felt like we were getting ahead a lot and our game plan worked really well,” Waldichuk said. “That’s a top one or two offense in the AL so it means a little more to do it against them.”

The left-hander has permitted only one run in his last three outings, spanning 16 innings. He hasn’t given up a run in his past 12 innings.

José Altuve led off the ninth with a single, the Astros’ first hit since Jeremy Peña singled in the first. Peña followed Altuve with another single off reliever Trevor May, and what was left of the Minute Maid Park crowd began to stir.

But then May was able to retire Yordan Alvarez, Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker on three straight flyouts to hang on.

“We had an opportunity that looked a little promising,” Tucker said. “As long as we’re trying to grind together at-bats, we’re still in games. It just didn’t work out tonight.”

Oakland took a 1-0 lead in the second when Rooker crushed a 95 mph sinker from Framber Valdez (11-10) a projected 442 feet onto the train tracks above left field.

The A’s picked up another run in the fifth when Kevin Smith doubled to right and Nick Allen followed with a single to make it 2-0.

Langeliers hit his 18th homer in the seventh, and Noda connected off Rafael Montero in the ninth for his 15th of the season.

Valdez allowed three runs on four hits and one walk while striking out 10 in seven innings. He is 2/3 with two no-decisions since pitching a no-hitter against Cleveland on Aug. 1.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Athletics: OF JJ Bleday (left knee sprain) took batting practice for the first time since getting hurt Aug. 13. The second-year player was hitting .203 with 10 homers and 27 RBI in 77 games for Oakland when he went down.

Astros: RHP Ryne Stanek played catch Sunday and threw on Monday for the first time since injuring his ankle last Monday at Texas, but Baker said it will be a while before the reliever is ready to return.

FLAMETHROWER

“He might be one of the best arms I’ve seen in person, if we’re being honest. His stuff’s just unreal. It’s fun to watch him out there. I knew when he was opening today, he was going to set the tone, and I felt like it was my responsibility to keep it going.” — Waldichuk on Miller.

ALTUVE HONORED

Altuve was selected American League Player of the Week for last week. He hit .357 with six home runs, eight RBI, a .400 on-base percentage, a 1.000 slugging percentage and a 1.400 OPS in six games. Altuve homered in four consecutive innings Monday and Tuesday, becoming the only player in the majors since 1900 to do so. It’s the fifth time Altuve has won the award and second this season.

UP NEXT

Houston RHP Justin Verlander (11-7, 3.23 ERA) faces LHP JP Sears (4-11, 4.51) in the middle game of the series Tuesday.

How can I watch Oakland Athletics vs. Houston Astros?
  • TV Channel: Athletics at Astros 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.tv.
  • Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Matchup Prediction

Astros: 79.6%
Athletics: 20.4%
*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

9th Inning Tucker flied out to left.
9th Inning Bregman flied out to left.
9th Inning Alvarez lined out to right.
9th Inning Peña singled to left, Altuve to second.
9th Inning Altuve singled to center.
9th Inning May relieved Waldichuk

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/oak.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originOAK https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/hou.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originHOU
1 Games Played 1
1 Team Games Played 1
0 Hit By Pitch 1
7 Ground Balls 10
13 Strikeouts 6
4 Runs Batted In 0
0 Sacrifice Hit 0
7 Hits 3
1 Stolen Bases 0
1 Walks 2
0 Catcher Interference 0
4 Runs 0
1 Ground Into Double Play 0
0 Sacrifice Flies 0
33 At Bats 29
3 Home Runs 0
0 Grand Slam Home Runs 0
5 Runners Left On Base 12
0 Triples 0
1 Game Winning RBIs 0
0 Intentional Walks 0
1 Doubles 0
13 Fly Balls 13
0 Caught Stealing 1
130 Pitches 129
0 Games Started 0
3 Pinch At Bats 0
1 Pinch Hits 0
0.0 Player Rating 0.0
1 Is Qualified 1
1 Is Qualified In Steals 1
17 Total Bases 3
34 Plate Appearances 32
486.0 Projected Home Runs 0.0
4 Extra Base Hits 0
4.0 Runs Created -0.5
.212 Batting Average .103
.333 Pinch Hit Average .000
.515 Slugging Percentage .103
.364 Secondary Average .034
.235 On Base Percentage .188
.750 OBP Pct + SLG Pct .291
0.5 Ground To Fly Ball Ratio 0.8
4.0 Runs Created Per 27 Outs -0.5
35.0 Batter Rating 3.0
11.0 At Bats Per Home Run 0.0
1.00 Stolen Base Percentage 0.00
3.82 Pitches Per Plate Appearance 4.03
.303 Isolated Power .000
0.08 Walk To Strikeout Ratio 0.33
.029 Walks Per Plate Appearance .063
.152 Secondary Average Minus Batting Average -.069
8.0 Runs Produced 0.0
1.0 Runs Ratio 0.0
0.5 Patience Ratio 0.2
0.2 Balls In Play Average 0.1
81.8 MLB Rating 57.5
0.0 Offensive Wins Above Replacement 0.0
0.0 Wins Above Replacement 0.0

Game Information

Minute Maid Park

Location: Houston, Texas
Attendance: 29,807 | Capacity:

2024 American League West Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Houston 88 73 .547 - W2
Seattle 85 77 .525 3.5 W4
Texas 78 84 .481 10.5 W3
Oakland 69 93 .426 19.5 L3
Los Angeles 63 99 .389 25.5 L6
Full Standings