Miguel Andujar leading off? First time in his career, so in his first ever lead off at bat Andujar HRed off of LHP Colton Gordon. It was just that kind of day.
Gunning, or should I say Ginning, for their first ever 4-game sweep in Houston the A’s not only put Andujar at 3B, Gio Urshela started at 1B as Nick Kurtz got a day off of being ungodly, Max Schuemann started at SS as Jacob Wilson rested his sore wrist for another day, Lawrence Butler manned CF for the injured Denzel Clarke, and Brent Rooker got a start in LF with Tyler Soderstrom on the bench against a lefty SP.
That’s 5, count ‘em 5, of the 8 fielders not in their best position with Kurtz, Wilson, and Soderstrom absent from the lineup. And so of course the A’s hit well, fielded well, and dominated the team that sat 20 games ahead of them in standings when the series began.
Following Andujar’s lead off HR Shea Langeliers got a 3-0 green light later in the inning and blasted one well beyond the Crawford Boxes for a 2-0 lead before JT Ginn took the mound. 2 runs would be more than Ginn needed as he mowed down the Astros.
Ginn fired 6 shutout innings, scattering just 3 hits with 0 walks and 4 K and doing it on just 77 pitches. Jack Perkins tossed 2 more scoreless innings before Ben Bowden surrendered the lone run in the 9th.
Meanwhile, the A’s continued a welcome recent trend of adding on. They doubled their lead in the 4th against Gordon courtesy of an Urshela sacrifice fly and a double by Colby Thomas in his best plate appearance so far in the big leagues — earlier in the at bat he lined one down the LF line a few inches foul, and spit on chase pitches before depositing the double in front of a diving CFer Taylor Trammell.
You know who didn’t miss his chance for a diving catch in CF? Lawrence Butler, who has played a terrific CF in Clarke’s absence, saved a run when the game was still 4-0 in the 6th, sprawling to rob Jose Altuve of an RBI double.
The A’s broke it open in the 9th — they lead all of MLB with 66 9th inning runs now — with Max Schuemann delivering a clutch 2-run bases loaded single followed by a RBI single from probably-about-to-be-traded Luis Urias.
All in all a great day for the green and gold 4 days before the trading deadline. The A’s come home Monday to host the team that’s chasing the Astros in the AL West: the Seattle Mariners. Seattle is now 3.5 games back pending the outcome of their game against the Angels.