Athletics Smacked By Astros 11-4

Series finale tomorrow

A day after getting their pants knocked off, the Athletics had the exact same thing happen again, getting beat down by the division-leading Houston Astros 11-4 to guarantee at best a series split for the A’s. Not a good night all around.

Athletics strike first

Facing A’s killer Framber Valdez for the first time this season, the Athletics needed to get out to a quick start against the ace left-hander, who is in the midst of yet another strong season for our AL West rival. They did just that, tagging him for an early run in the second inning. After a Nick Kurtz double put the first runner in scoring position for either team, the newest Athletic Austin Wynns came through with his third hit for his new team, driving in Kurtz with a line drive to center field to give the A’s the quick 1-0 lead:

Severino strong early, hit later

Making his 16th start of the season, veteran right-hander Luis Severino got out to a solid start, allowing just a pair of singles in his first two innings of work. That didn’t continue all night. His first pitch of the third inning was sent over the outfield wall by Mauricio Dubon to tie this game up 1-1, then back-to-back-to-back singles, a force out, and another single brought in another run for the Astros in the fourth, giving them a lead they would not give up the rest of the night.

Sevy came out for one final inning, pitching a scoreless ninth before ending his day and making way to the bullpen with this game still within striking distance. He, however, would be denied his third with with the A’s and is still winless in Sacramento.

• Luis Severino: 5 IP, 9 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 97 pitches

Overall a solid outing from the 31-year-old vet. He gave up a lot of contact but also induced a lot of weak contact to help. He didn’t hurt himself with many free passes, and it always helps when you get some terrific defense behind you:

Astros explode

With Severino out of the game, it would be up to the bullpen to keep this game close enough for the offense to mount a comeback. Instead, almost immediately Houston jumped all over the first reliever out of the ‘pen, righty Tyler Ferguson. The second-year reliever allowed six runs on six hits and a walk, only managing to get two outs before manager Mark Kotsay said enough was enough and turned to another reliever, lefty Sean Newcomb. He allowed a home run to the first batter he faced to make it a seven-run inning for the Astros, effectively putting this game out of reach.

Wrapping things up

At this point the outcome was all but decided, but with three and a half innings to go both teams had to go through the motions. Kurtz drove in a run in the bottom half of the sixth against Valdez, the second of what would be three hits for him tonight. Newcomb pitched a scoreless seventh and eighth innings for the A’s before Hogan Harris allowed a pair of unneeded insurance runs to the Astros in the top of the ninth. The A’s got both of those back in the bottom half courtesy of a Kurtz home run (his 8th) and an RBI single off the bat of Max Schuemann, but it was far, far, far too little too late.

Well, the A’s lost again, back-to-back contests now. On the bright side it’s a four-game series and they can still at least salvage a series tie with a win tomorrow. Severino was solid tonight, Nick Kurtz went 3-for-4 with a home run and looks fully back to normal, Austin Wynns had a couple hits, and Max Schuemann can do it all. But that dang bullpen. If the team had figured it out during the offseason it feels like this team would be right in the thick of the playoff race. Oh well.

These two clubs wrap up the series tomorrow evening with a matchup of left-handed rookie starting pitchers. For Houston, they’ll go with 26-year-old Colton Gordon, who made his big league debut this year and has made six appearances so far, all starts. After allowing 13 runs over his first four starts (5.95 ERA), the Astros’ #14th-ranked prospect only yielded three runs over his last two, which spanned five and six innings, respectively. The A’s will counter Gordon with 27-year-old Jacob Lopez, who is coming off two scoreless starts, including his best start yet when he went six innings against the Kansas City Royals and only allowed three hits and racked up nine strikeouts. This could be the first of many times these two young lefties face each other over the coming years. Let’s hope Lopez can start it off with a win in the finale.