OAKLAND, Calif. — Nothing is easy for the Astros, a club mired in a miserable stretch that is threatening to spiral this 60-game season. They received excellent offense in Anaheim and miserable pitching. The performances have flipped through two games in Oakland, two losses that leave them clinging for life in an American League West race they’re playing their way out of.
Houston sent its ace to stop their five-game losing streak in the first game of Tuesday’s doubleheader. The lineup received a boost from Alex Bregman’s return and a long-awaited clutch hit from Michael Brantley in the fifth.
Any excitement was brief. The Astros’ search for a win did not arrive. Zack Greinke gave up a season-high four runs. Two came after Brantley’s game-tying, two-run home run in the fifth, removing any energy that blast afforded the Astros’ dugout.
Houston lost 4-2 for their sixth straight setback. Oakland increased its lead to 5 ½ games in the division and the Mariners now sit 1 ½ games behind Houston for the second playoff spot in the sport’s 16-team expanded postseason field.
“It doesn’t matter,” Greinke said. “Everyone makes the playoffs. We’ll be all right, still. If we don’t make the playoffs, we didn’t deserve to make the playoffs.”
Struggling A’s power hitter Khris Davis came alive against Greinke, swatting a solo home run in the third and a run-scoring double in the sixth. Davis entered the game with a .510 OPS and with only three at-bats since Aug. 21.
Former Astros Robbie Grossman and Ramón Laureano added run-scoring singles against Greinke. He had owned Oakland since arriving to the Astros last August, but faltered Tuesday when the club desperately needed dominance. Greinke had a 1.50 ERA in four prior outings against Oakland with the Astros.
“I guess that’s what was frustrating, I felt good. Mind was thinking properly. I just made a couple mistakes,” Greinke said. “I should have done better than I did.”
On Tuesday, Greinke gave the club six innings. He struck out six but scattered seven hits. Two frames went awry — and with the current state of the club, that’s more than enough to torpedo the entire day.
Some of the hits against him were brutal luck. Chad Pinder poked an infield single in the third that Bregman should have fielded. Grossman’s go-ahead single in the sixth was nearly nabbed on a dazzling dive by George Springer in center field. Springer came up and displayed the baseball, but it clearly bounced into his glove, a bad break to go along with this brutal stretch.
Ascribing Tuesday’s loss to bad luck is not accurate. Greinke made mistakes at the worst times. Houston’s lineup failed in two-out at-bats with runners in scoring position during the first and third. Kyle Tucker laced a leadoff double in the fourth. He advanced only to third base.
Before Brantley’s home run in the fifth, the Astros had not scored in their previous 15 innings. They were shut out Monday. On Tuesday, they wasted baserunners in each of the first four innings against Frankie Montas, a menacing righthander who runs his four-seam fastball up to 98 mph and his sinker just a tick below.
Brantley found the club’s only consistent success against him. He grounded a double down the third-base line during the first and deposited another into left field in the third. Both came with two outs. His two-run shot was on Montas’ first-pitch fastball, scoring Springer and sending the dugout into audible delirium.
Greinke could not continue the vibe. He started the sixth in a 1-1 count to Laureano. As Greinke released the third pitch, an expletive left his mouth. The four-seam fastball sat up. Laureano launched it into the left field corner for a leadoff double. Grossman dumped the single in front of Springer to score him.
Davis arrived with two outs. He started on Tuesday for the first time in six games. He’d taken only three at-bats since Aug. 21 and seems a far cry from the man who led the major leagues with 48 home runs during the 2018 season.
In the third, Greinke got ahead of Davis 0-2, pounding the power hitter with an assortment of pitches in the other batter’s box. Davis laid off two putaway sliders that evened the count, but signaled the adjustment he had to make. Davis deposited the next fastball on the outer-half 400 feet over the right field fence.
In the sixth, Greinke still adhered to the plan. He fired a four-seam fastball on the outer half. Davis had timed it up. The designated hitter split the right center field gap, sending Oakland into celebration and, again, silencing the Astros.
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September 09, 2020 at 07:47AM
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Astros' skid hits six after loss to A's in doubleheader opener - Houston Chronicle
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