A’s Comeback Falls Short In 5-4 Loss To Astros
Apr 26, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics center fielder Chris Young (25) breaks his bat during the ninth inning of the game against the Baltimore Orioles at O.Co Coliseum. The Baltimore Orioles defeated the Oakland Athletics 3-0. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports
After a promising win Sunday afternoon to finish off a five-game road trip, the Oakland Athletics returned home Monday night looking to build off their recent success against the Houston Astros.
Instead, they’ll head home with more concerns about one of their best starters and a healthy dose of disappointment after their comeback attempt fell short in the ninth, and the A’s lost to the Astros for the second time this year by a score of 5-4.
Colon’s control was not there tonight for the A’s, and the offense waited to late to get going, and Oakland missed out on a great opportunity to gain ground on the Texas Rangers in the division as the AL West leaders lost earlier in the evening to the Brewers.
Colon started off well enough with a three-up, three-down inning in the first, but it was all downhill from there. He walked Jason Castro to lead off the second and after getting Chris Carter to pop out to third, he’d give up consecutive doubles to Matt Dominguez and Brandon Barnes, with Barnes driving in two runs on his hit to the left field wall to put Houston up 2-0.
The struggles continued in the third. The ball was up in the strike zone on many of Colon’s pitches throughout the night; when trying to locate down in the zone, his pitches ended up around the knees, while pitches left over the plate and chest-high got hit into the outfield. Singles by Robbie Grossman and Brett Wallace put two men on with no outs, and after Grossman moved to third on a flyout to left by Jose Altuve, he’d cross the plate on a sacrifice fly to left by Jason Castro. Wallace then stole second, and he’d score on a double to left by Carter, giving the Astros a 4-0 lead.
Houston hit Colon up for one more run in the fourth to make it 5-0, which would end up being his final inning. Colon has now allowed five runs in his last two starts after not allowing more than three in 21 of his 23 appearances.
Meanwhile, all of the headway the A’s made in Toronto in the run scoring department seemed like a distant memory. Oakland managed three hits through the first four innings, two of them coming from Yoenis Cespedes.
The A’s got on the board at last in the fifth. Josh Donaldson drove a slider to the wall in right-center and ended up with a lead off triple, and Seth Smith drew a walk in the next at-bat. Stephen Vogt grounded into a double play next, but Donaldson crossed the plate to open up the scoring for Oakland.
Jesse Chavez was instrument in keeping the A’s in the game following Colon’s exit,racking up five strikeouts and one walk and three hits allowed in 3.2 innings of work. Jerry Blevins was brought in to finish off the eighth, and Oakland had a couple more chances to make some noise at the plate.
They did just that against Josh Zeid, who was brought in out of the bullpen to pitch the eighth for Houston. After disposing of Eric Sogard and Chris Young, the right-hander gave up a single to Jed Lowrie, who stole second on a wild pitch with Josh Reddick at the plate. Reddick drove him in with a ground ball up the middle to make it 5-2 and extend the inning with a single. That set the stage for Cespedes.
Already seeing the ball pretty well, Cespedes took a couple pitches, and with the count at 1-1, he got a fastball in and turned on it, just clearing the wall in the left field corner on a two-run drive that brought the A’s within a run. It was the 19th home run of the year for Cespedes, and it couldn’t have come at a better time.
That would be it for Zeid, and Kevin Chapman was called upon to finish off the inning for Houston. Nate Freiman came in to pinch-hit for Brandon Moss to get a righty up against the left-hander, and after getting hit by a pitch, Coco Crisp replaced him as a pinch runner. Astros manager Bo Porter then brought in right-hander Chia-Jen Lo to pitch to Donaldson, and he needed only one pitch to get the job done as Donaldson popped out to center to finish things off.
Blevins was left in to pitch the ninth, and Bob Melvin substituted Alberto Callaspo for Crisp, and he’d play third base with Donaldson being shifted over to first. A two-out double by Jose Altuve was brushed off, and after a Jason Castro flyout to right, Oakland got their final chance for a comeback.
Lo was left in for the ninth — a bit surprising considering he has the third-most blown saves in baseball. After getting Seth Smith to ground out to second, Stephen Vogt battled in an 11-pitch at-bat and drew a walk. Sogard nearly sent the A’s to the clubhouse with a drive to right, but it fell just short as L.J. Hoes made the catch at the base of the wall.
That left everything up to Chris Young, and after he appeared to hit a walk-off shot inside the foul pole in left field, the ball ended up just left and was ruled foul, which turned out to be the correct call after a replay review, requested by Melvin.
It was about as close as a ball could come to hitting the pole without actually making contact, and it would be the difference as Young struck out on the next pitch to end the game.
The two teams are back in action tomorrow night, with Jarrod Parker taking the mound against Jarred Cosart for Houston at 7:05 PST.