Athletics beaten in game 2
Oakland faces must win situation today against Houston Astros
The Oakland A’s are in trouble. With a 5-2 loss to the Houston Astros Tuesday afternoon at Dodger Stadium, the A’s fall 0-2 in the best-offive American League Division Series. The American League West champions must win three straight games to salvage their season.
Sean Manaea got the start on 12 days rest and his first postseason appearance hoping for a little redemption following a disappointing start in the wild card loss to the Tampa Bay Rays in 2019.
A team that out-homers its opponent is undefeated in the postseason this year. The
Astros found one more big swing than the A’s.
Two came against Manaea, who managed to keep most of his offerings down – but not down enough for this powerful, motivated Houston lineup. George Springer – who’s been hot all postseason – got things started with a two-run home run, he pulled
a hanging curveball into the left field seats.
Manaea lost two ticks on his fastball velocity and the heart of the Astros lineup hit him hard
in the fourth inning. In a slew of contact registering with a 105, 109, 107, 100 mph exit velocity, the Astros created traffic on the base paths but only came away with one extra run. That could have spelled the end for the A’s left-hander, but he came back to face the bottom of Houston’s
order in the fifth. Martin Maldonado greeted him and chased him out of the game with a solo home run.
Springer greeted reliever Yusmeiro Petit’s first pitch with a hearty swing for his second home run of the afternoon.
The A’s couldn’t match the five
Astros runs. Though built with the right-handers to challenge any left-handed pitcher, they couldn’t consistently drive the ball against Framber Valdez.
Valdez had his biting curveball working from the first inning. Along with his sinker, the A’s rolled over most of his offerings
throughout.
Khris Davis got a hold of one of his few hanging curveballs, sending it into right field for his third home run of the postseason and second of the series. He hit a total of two home runs over 30 games in the regular season.