Series 5/52: Houston (4-8) @ Oakland (9-4)
Game 1:
LHP Erik Bedard (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 0.56 WHIP)
RHP Tom Milone (2-0, 4.50 ERA, 1.25 WHIP)
In game one of their second series in as many weeks, the A's would face Erik Bedard; Oakland swept the Astros in Houston last week, but have yet to Bedard, who comes in having thrown solidly in two previous outings - the first coming out of the bullpen to pitch 3.1 innings in relief (and receiving a save for his effort), and once as a starter in a ND that resulted in another Houston win. In 7.1 innings of work, Bedard previously had a WHIP of 0.56 in those two outings thanks to giving up just a combined 2 hits and 2 walks (0 runs) with an opponent batting average of just .083.
Thus, the fact that the veteran left-hander was only able to retire 1 of Oakland's first 7 batters was shocking. It would be the only 7 batters he would face in the game.
Bottom of the 1st inning:
1. Coco Crisp walks (3-2)
2. Derek Norris walks (3-1)
3. Chris Young walks to load the bases (3-1)
4. Jed Lowrie strikes out
- Wild pitch scores Crisp. 1-0 Oakland.
5. Josh Donaldson walks to re-load the bases (3-2)
6. Brandon Moss (0-for-16 slump) RBI single scores Norris and Young. 3-0 Oakland.
7. Nate Freiman (2-for-13) homers to left, scoring Donaldson, Moss, and himself. 6-0 Oakland.
/Bedard. 0.1 IP, 2 hits, 4 walks, 1 strikeout, 6 earned runs (162.00 ERA, 18.00 WHIP)
- Nate Freiman's 1st-inning 3-run home run was his 3rd major league hit and his first career home run.
- Coco Crisp extends his hitting streak to 10-games with a 4th inning double.
- With injury woes to the A's lineup, infamous, if not bewildering prospect, Mike Taylor (0-for-1), receives his first start of the season and hits 8th; he went 0-for-4.
- Tommy Milone becomes Oakland's first 3-win pitcher with his third in as many starts; he has won five straight decisions dating to last season and hasn't lost since Sept. 3, 2012.
Astros 2,
Athletics 11
W: Milone (3-0); L: Bedard (0-1)
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Game 2:
RHP Brad Peacock (1-1, 4.82 ERA, 1.17 WHIP)
RHP A.J. Griffin (2-0, 1.93 ERA, 1.07 WHIP)
Brad Peacock might end up being the best piece Houston received in the Jed Lowrie deal afterall. In all of his three starts, he's looked pretty proficient. His downfall thus far is he hasn't been able to get out of the 5th inning twice, but he's giving Houston a shot each start.
On a night when A.J. Griffin didn't have his best stuff - walking a career-high four hitters in the first 3 innings, Peacock would again give the Astros a chance to win as he pitched into the 5th inning with a tie game, allowing just 4 hits.
Griffin would settle down and retire his final 11 batters while Oakland's offense would finally get to Peacock and eventually Rhiner Cruz to take a 3-2 lead. Doolittle would spoil Griffin's bid for a win by giving up a game-tying solo home run to Carlos Pena in the 8th inning. In the bottom half of that same inning, however, Josh Donaldson would place a ball perfectly down the right-field line past a diving Rick Ankiel to lock in Oakland's 3rd triple of the night, scoring Josh Reddick from 1st.
- With Brandon Moss again on paternity leave to be with his wife (I think it's for real this time), rookie Shane Peterson gets his second call up (his first being when Moss went on paternity leave in Houston last week). This time, though, Peterson will get his first start, hitting 9th and playing 1st base. It won't go down in the box score, but with the bases loaded and 2-outs in the 3rd inning and Houston already up 2-0, Rick Ankiel hits a liner down the first base line only to be robbed by the outstretched glove of Peterson as dives toward the line and saves Oakland from going down at least 4-0. It's debatable that Carlos Pena would have scored from first base to make it 5-0 despite the large confines of the Coliseum with Josh Reddick's canon of an arm in right field. 50/50. Regardless, it was huge. (Video:
OAK: Top Plays | HOU@OAK: Peterson's diving grab gets A's out of third - Video | oaklandathletics.com: Multimedia)
Peterson, offensively, wasn't as impressive in his debut. A former 2nd round pick by the Cardinals (and included in the Matt Holliday trade of 2009), Peterson, 25, hit above .400 in both AAA (.410) and Spring Training (.408) this season. He's a natural first basemen (as we saw), but lacks some of the power you'd expect from a first basemen, and thus may be more suited offensively to the corner-outfield spots, where he started at in AAA Sacramento. Part of his modus operandi appears to be a strong eye at the plate, though he didn't show it tonight - swinging wildly at a few pitches off the plate or down in the zone. Peterson will get one more start tomorrow with Moss not scheduled to re-join the team until Friday in Tampa.
- Coco Crisp extends his hitting streak to 11 games with an RBI triple in the 5th inning. The A's would tie a franchise record with 3 triples on the evening (Sogard, Crisp, Donaldson). Part of the problem for Houston was the odd defensive formation manager Bo Porter had with Jason Maxwell playing so far into left-center, which lead directly to Sogard's triple into right-center. Maxwell, for much of the series, played significantly shifted to left-center, almost regardless of who the hitter was.
- The A's have now won 10 straight games against teams from the AL West, the club's longest single-season stretch since a 13-game streak in 1994.
Astros 3,
Athletics 4
W: Doolittle (1-0); L: Cruz (0-1)
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Game 3:
RHP Bud Norris (2-1, 1.93 ERA, 1.09 WHIP)
RHP Bartolo Colon (1-0, 4.15 ERA, 1.23 WHIP)
It has been said that the 2013 AL West belongs to the team that is able to dominate the Houston Astros. So far, it's dead-on. Oakland is the only team that hasn't lost to Houston (6-0) this season and has the best record in both the AL West and the American League as a whole.
Coming off 7 shutout innings against the Angels in which he would lower his ERA to 1.93 and earn his 2nd victory, Bud Norris lasted all of 2 outs of the 1st inning. For the second time in 3 games, Astros' starters were unable to get out of the first inning; Bedard and Norris combined for 12 runs and 1 inning pitched. In 3 games, Houston starting pitching would combine to pitch a total of just 5.1 IP.
The A's struck for 6 runs in the first inning on RBIs by Young, Sogard, Reddick, Peterson, and Jaso. Lowrie would finish off the A's scoring with an RBI in the 4th.
- For his part, Bartolo Colon was tremendous. He went 6 innings, giving up just the 1st inning RBI by Chris Carter, 4 hits while striking out 3. In his 3 starts and 19 innings of work, Colon has yet to issue a walk. In the top of the 5th inning with 2 outs and facing Matt Dominguez, he faced his first 3-0 count of the day, putting the streak on the line but elected to move from his off-speed pitches to straight fastballs and ended up fighting back to 3-2 before yielding a single (cue my applause). After finishing off Marwin Gonzalez to end the 5th and retiring Houston in order in the 6th, Colon's day was done having retired 10 of his final 11 batters.
- Shane Peterson, who made his MLB debut last night, picked up his first RBI (1st inning, walk), first hit (4th inning, Xavier Cedeno), and first run scored (4th inning, RBI Lowrie)
- Coco Crisp was given a day off for rest and will attempt to extend his hitting streak to 12 games on Friday vs Alex Cobb.
- Oakland heads for Tampa tied with Atlanta for the most wins in baseball (12), with baseball's highest totals for runs (96), doubles (40), walks (70), stolen bases (15), second in OBP (.354), and second in OPS (.818).
Astros 5,
Athletics 7
W: Colon (2-0), L: Parker (0-2)
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Pitching Matchups:
Game 1:
LHP Brett Anderson (1-2, 4.34 ERA, 1.39 WHIP)
Of the nine earned runs Anderson has allowed, seven came in his last start, a loss to the Tigers. Anderson said his slider was the worst it has been since he's been in the big leagues. He gave up three home runs, matching his career high.
RHP Alex Cobb (1-1, 1.93 ERA, 1.14 WHIP)
Cobb struggled with command in Boston, but managed to limit the damage in a four-run, 6 2/3-inning outing that resulted in his first loss of '13. He is 2-1 with a 2.66 ERA in three career starts vs. the A's, and 8-7 with a 3.45 ERA in 18 home starts.
Game 2:
RHP Jarrod Parker (0-2, 10.80 ERA, 2.26 WHIP)
Parker lost after allowing eight runs on nine hits in 3 1/3 innings on Sunday vs. the Tigers. He's lasted just 3 1/3 innings in each of his past two starts and has fanned just four with eight walks in 11 2/3 frames this year.
RHP Jeremy Hellickson (0-1, 4.91 ERA, 1.15 WHIP)
The Rays right-hander gave the Rays a quality start Monday against the Red Sox, but took a no-decision despite allowing just two runs and striking out nine in seven innings. He is 0-1 with a 5.40 ERA in four career starts against the Athletics.
Game 3:
LHP Tom Milone (3-0, 3.86 ERA, 1.23 WHIP)
Milone allowed two runs on eight hits and no walks with six strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings to earn the win against the Astros on Monday night, and the lefty is carrying around a five-game win streak dating back to September.
RHP Fausto Carmona / Roberto Hernandez (0-3, 5.79, 1.39 WHIP)
He made his third start for the Rays on Tuesday, allowing three earned runs in 5 1/3 innings against the O's to take his third loss. He is 4-7 in 13 career appearances against Oakland and is 2-2 with a 5.04 ERA in six career appearances at the Trop.
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Photos: 4/17 vs Astros
