The A's Lose Another Close Game To The Astros; Drop 2 Games Behind Texas
It was another close game between the Oakland Athletics and the Houston Astros on Wednesday night.
The A's were trying to redeem themselves after a close and controversial game on Tuesday night in which Chris Young would have had a home run, called foul, that would have won the game for Oakland.
While it was a pitcher's duel between Oakland A's right hander Jarrod Parker and Houston's right handed pitcher, Jarred Cosart, Parker's pitch count was substantially lower than Cosart's, who left the game with 99 pitches after 6 complete innings. Parker left the game after 8 1/3 with 97 pitches.
The game broke open with former Athletic, Chris Carter, hitting a lead off home run in the 7th inning to make it 1-0 Astros.
The A's were not going to go down without a fight.
Yoenis Cespedes had a lead off single in the 7th inning, followed by a double from Brandon Moss, scoring Cespedes, making it a tie ball game.
There was hope when in the bottom of the 8th inning when Sogard had a lead off double. After Callaspo grounded out, Freiman flew out to center field. Sogard tagged up and tried to take third, but was called out, ending the inning. Sogard immediately expressed his frustration and so did Bob Melvin, A's manager, who ran out onto the field to argue about the call. He was ejected shortly thereafter.
When asked after the game about his ejection, Melvin commented "I thought he was safe, simple as that."
Chris Young had another chance for a walk off home run and was robbed again.
In the bottom of the 10th inning, with 2 outs, Young hit a fly ball to left field in which Robbie Grossman jumped to reach over the fence to catch the ball, to strip Young of a home run for the second time in 2 games.
In the top of the 11th inning, Jose Altuve had a base hit, and was brought home when Carlos Corporan doubled, taking the lead 2-1 over the Athletics.
Although Eric Sogard had a lead off double in the bottom of the 11th, the A's were unable to bring him home. Callaspo, batting in the first position, failed to advance Sogard for the second time.
"It was one of the most frustrating losses of the year," said Bob Melvin in a post-game interview.
The A's came into the game one game behind the Texas Rangers, who beat the Brewers in Arlington 5-4. Since the A's lost, the Rangers now take a 2-game lead in the AL West.
The A's will take on the Astros again on Thursday afternoon at 12:35pm. Tune into KHTK Sports 1140 to catch all the action.
