After winning impressively 13-3 to tie their week series against a divisional foe on Tuesday, the Houston Astros returned for game three against the Athletics. Houston had another explosive night on offense and defeated the A’s again, this time 11-4, to improve their record to 43-31.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The game began relatively slowly through the first one and a half innings. There was a hit in each half of the frame, but no runs were scored. That changed at the bottom of the second. With one out, Nick Kurtz doubled into left field and then scored after Austin Wynns hit a two-out RBI single in center field to give the Athletics the early lead.
Mauricio Dubon answered to begin the third inning. Houston’s utility player hit a solo home run 400 feet over the left-center field wall to tie the game. After Jeremy Pena struck out and Isaac Paredes flew out, Jose Altuve reached on an infield single, and Yainer Diaz’s hit out in left put runners on first and second. Christian Walker ended the inning with a groundout to second base.
Framber Valdez was Houston’s starting pitcher on Wednesday, and he began to dial in by the time the game got to the bottom of the third. Through the sixth inning, Valdez allowed just two more hits, a run, and struck out two Athletics batters before being replaced by Shawn Dubin to open the seventh inning.
Houston added another run in the fourth. Cam Smith hit a leadoff single, and Victor Caratini followed that up with a base hit, and Jake Meyers did the same to load the bases. Dubon hit into a fielder’s choice by the pitcher, Luis Severino, who threw back to home to get Smith out and save a run. Pena wouldn’t be denied and helped score a run with a single into right field. That run put the Astros ahead 2-1.
The Stros blew the game open in the sixth with a seven-run inning. It began when Tyler Ferguston replaced Severino and immediately gave up a hit to Meyers, but Dubon hit into a double play. Despite the two outs early, Houston plated their next seven batters. Pena hit a single, and Paredes walked before Altuve went yard for a three-run shot over the left-center field wall. The baseball went 432 feet. After that, Diaz singled, Walker walked, and Smith hit an RBI double to plate another run.
That was all Mark Kotsay had to see as he made a pitching change to Sean Newcomb. Against his first batter faced, Newcomb gave up a three-run homer, the second allowed by the A’s pitching staff in the inning. That put Houston ahead 9-1.
In his final inning, Valdez walked Luis Arias and Max Muncy before Kurtz hit an RBI single to cut it to a seven-run ballgame.
It was quiet on the scoreboard until the ninth inning as the Astros added to their lead. Before then, Dubin was on the mound the previous two innings, not allowing a hit and striking out two batters in the process. Newcomb was out there until the eighth as well, allowing just one hit.
For Houston, though, they tacked on a couple more runs to help secure another late-night victory. Smith began with another single and scored on an RBI double by Meyers. Dubon followed that up with a base hit in left field, and Meyers scored on a sacrifice groundout by Pena. Those runs put the Stros ahead by nine and came against Lafayette native and former Louisiana Ragin’ Cajun pitcher Hogan Harris, as the A’s were down to their final three outs.
The Athletics didn’t go down easily, though. Nick Hernandez was Houston’s closer and gave up a solo homer to Kurtz, his first batter faced. Hernandez recovered a little by striking out JJ Bleday, but then Wynns doubled into left field. Denzel Clarke flew out, leaving the A’s on their final life. Max Schuemann kept them alive with an RBI single, but Brent Rooker grounded out to third, securing the Astros the 11-4 win, improving their record to 43-31.
BIG NUMBER: 20
The Astros’ bats were on fire. By the final out, Houston racked up 20 hits in the ballgame, 15 more than the Athletics. The last time Houston recorded at least 20 hits in a game was back on August 27th, 2023, when the Stros faced the Seattle Mariners. They won that game 10-3.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Victor Caratini
Caratini and Jose Altuve had similar stats on the night. Both finished with three hits and three RBI on four at-bats. Each hit a home run, but the difference in stats was that Caratini scored twice. Those two helped lead Houston to the 11-4 win over the Athletics, improving their record to 43-31.
UP NEXT: The Astros will close out their four-game series against the Athletics tomorrow, June 19th. First pitch from Sutter Health Field is scheduled for 9:05 pm, and the action can be heard on ESPN 103.7 Lafayette 104.1 Lake Charles.