Next up: the Rangers
The A’s dropped the series finale to the Houston Astros on Sunday, getting swept for the third straight series and heading to Arlington losers of 8 straight.
Things did not start well for Oakland today as they fell behind early and never got much going with the bats, managing just a single hit and a trio of walks against the Houston starting pitcher. They scored some runs late off the bullpen and made it interesting but it was too little too late for the squad.
*** Click here to revisit today’s Game Thread! ***
Entering today, starter Cole Irvin had struggled all season on the road compared to pitching at the Coliseum. That continued today as the Houston Astros tagged him for a pair of runs in each of the first two innings thanks to a 2-run shot from Alex Bregman in the first and a 2-run double in the second off the bat of Jose Altuve. Not the best start.
That was most of the damage Houston did against the lefty today as he settled in after that, pitching into the sixth and allowing just one more run on the day in his final inning of work.
–Cole Irvin: 6 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 84 pitches
Based on how he started this game, it was encouraging to see him settle in a bit though the middle innings. All the runs he allowed today came with two outs, which comes with an extra sting because he was close to escaping those innings unscored upon. He got tagged for that fifth run at the end of his outing in the sixth but just wasn’t his usual dominate self that he’s displayed when he’s at the Coliseum.
Kotsay evaluates Cole Irvin’s outing in the A’s 6-3 loss to Houston pic.twitter.com/g29I3QV43Y
— A’s on NBCS (@NBCSAthletics) August 14, 2022
As for the bats, they couldn’t get much of anything going against Houston starter Cristian Javier. The right-handed shut down the offense to the tune of one hit and three walks over his six innings of work today as the A’s had no answer for him. The only hit against him a was a Jonah Bride single in the second.
They had some more luck against the Houston bullpen, though. Young infielder Nick Allen put the A’s on the board and broke up the shutout with an 8th inning bomb into the Crawford boxes, his second of the season and career:
Nick Allen sends one to the Crawford boxes for his second career dinger pic.twitter.com/A1JI40GwCU
— The Rickey Henderson of Blogs (@RickeyBlog) August 14, 2022
He also added a nice web gem after hitting the home run:
Nick Allen followed up his dinger with a smooth play at shortstop. He’s a fun player to watch pic.twitter.com/O54y66H7e7
— The Rickey Henderson of Blogs (@RickeyBlog) August 14, 2022
They weren’t done there. A couple singles after Allen’s bomb went nowhere but they strung together a few baserunners in the ninth and scored a pair, even bringing the tying run up to the plate.
Another run pic.twitter.com/g7ODk9TeZX
— The Rickey Henderson of Blogs (@RickeyBlog) August 14, 2022
Vimael Machin couldn’t keep the rally going though as he grounded out to the pitcher to end the comeback attempt and seal the sweep.
The loss makes it 8 L’s in a row for the Green & Gold and on top of that a couple A’s players were shaken up on defense. Right fielder Ramon Laureano slid on the warning track in the bottom of the first and stayed in for a few innings before being replaced by Stephen Piscotty in the fourth, and Tony Kemp was slow to get up after missing on a diving attempt in left field. Unlike Laureano he stayed in the game and even provided some of that ninth inning offense.
They’ll stick around in Texas for a while longer as they head to Arlington to take on the Texas Rangers in a four-game series, starting tomorrow night. Starters have yet to be announced to stay tuned!
UPDATE:
Ramón Laureano left the game with left side soreness and is day to day. Though he slipped near the right-field wall in the first inning, Kotsay said Laureano felt the discomfort on a swing during his second at-bat.
— Martín Gallegos (@MartinJGallegos) August 14, 2022