Rookies Pace A’s To 5-0 Win Over Astros
Aug 15, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Athletics starting pitcher Sonny Gray (54) pitches against the Houston Astros during the first inning at O.Co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-USA TODAY Sports
The Oakland Athletics got a much-needed win over the Houston Astros Thursday afternoon, with two rookies paving the way in a 5-0 win. The win puts the A’s 1.5 games behind Texas in the AL west.
Nate Freiman drove in four of the A’s five runs, going 4-for-4 on the day with a home run, a double and two singles. 23-year-old right-hander Sonny Gray pitched about as well as anyone could have hoped for in his first start in front of a home crowd, going eight innings with nine strikeouts, one walk and only four hits allowed to earn his first win in a major league uniform.
The A’s wasted no time getting things going at the plate, with Chris Young getting a lead off single and Jed Lowrie connecting on a fastball that went all the way to the wall in center field in the second at-bat of the game for Oakland. Young scored on the play, and Lowrie ended up with a double.
Next, Josh Donaldson drew a walk, followed by a strikeout by Yoenis Cespedes. Bedard couldn’t get past Freiman, however, and the rookie went to the opposite field on an elevated fastball. A friendly bounce off the wall in foul territory allowed both baserunners to score, giving the A’s an early 3-0 lead.
In the third, Freiman blasted his third home run of the year to give Oakland a 5-0 advantage. The homer came after a one-out single by Cespedes, and Freiman hit it to pretty much the exact same spot as Young’s near-home run in the ninth inning of last night’s loss. It was just beyond the reach of Robbie Grossman in left, who made the game-saving catch on Young’s drive Wednesday night.
It was a welcome sight for the A’s, who could use as many hot bats as possible (their offense has been in quite a funk since the All-Star break). Freiman’s four RBI in a game is the most in one game in his career and the most by an Oakland rookie since Ben Grieve in 1998.
The A’s put runners in scoring position a couple more times without bringing them in, but the real story from then on was Gray’s dominance over the Astros’ lineup. Although he labored a bit early on, he was much more efficient in the middle innings, and if he keeps pitching like this, he’ll be a mainstay in the rotation for as long as Billy Beane can afford to hold on to him.
The Astros didn’t get a man past first until the eighth, when Jonathan Villar got a one-out double, the first extra-base hit of the day for Houston. Gray responded by striking out Grossman and getting Brett Wallace to ground out to end the inning. That concluded the youngster’s 118-pitch start.
Dan Otero came out of the bullpen and worked through the ninth, giving up a double to Marc Krauss with two-outs before striking out Matt Dominguez to end the game.
Oakland will take on the Cleveland Indians in a three-game series at home over the weekend, and A.J. Griffin, still seeking his first win in the month of August, will kick things off against right-hander Justin Masterson in the opener.