Athletics stay alive; Braves take 2-0 lead overmarlins
Chad Pinder tied the score with a three- run homer in the seventh inning, Sean Murphy hit a go- ahead sacrifice f ly in the eighth and the Oakland Athletics rallied past the Houston Astros 9-7 on Wednesday to avoid elimination in their AL Division Series.
Houston leads the bestof-five series 2-1 and can advance to its fourth straight AL Championship Series with a victory in Game 4 on Thursday.
The Astros wasted leads of 2-1 and 7- 4, and the Athletics bounced back after giving up advantages of 1- 0 and 4-2.
Houston’s bullpen had stifled Oakland in the first two games with seven shutout innings of one-hit relief, but Pinder ended that dominance.
Houston led 7- 4 when Marcus Semien and Tommy La Stella had back-to-back singles off Josh James starting the seventh. Pinder hit a first-pitch slider to the opposite field for Oakland’s fifth homer, a drive chased by right fielder Kyle Tucker until he ran out of room at the short wall.
La Stella, Mark Canha, Matt Olson and Semien also
homered for the A’s, whose entire infield went deep. Teams outhomering opponents are 18- 0 in the postseason.
The teams have combined for 18 homers — including seven in Game 3 — in the neutral-site series at Dodger Stadium featuring all day games. After two straight days in the 90s, the temperature cooled to 81 degrees.
Loser Brooks Raley walked Robbie Grossman
leading off the eighth, and Ramon Laureano doubled. Murphy’s sacrifice fly put Oakland ahead, Semien walked,
La Stella was hit on his right forearm, loading the bases and forcing La Stella from the game. Pinder, who went 3 for4with four RBIS, followed with another sacrifice fly in the eighth.
Winner Liam Hedricks pitched three innings of one-hit, scoreless relief.
Carlos Correa singled
leading off the bottom of the eighth and Tucker reached on catcher’s interference by Murphy, a call the A’s challenged unsuccessfully.
Yuli Gurriel popped out, Aedmys Díaz advanced the runners with a groundout, and pinch-hitter Josh Reddick struck out, smashing his bat on the ground and breaking it over a knee.
Houston took a 7- 4 lead with five runs in the fifth, when the Astros sent 10 batters to the plate. Díaz hit a tying, two-run homer off rookie starter Jesús Luzardo, and Brantley, Bregman and Tucker drove in runs. Houston was slowed when José Altuve was thrown out on a relay by Olson at first when he tried to go from first to third on Brantley’s single.
Both starters allowed up four runs and five hits in 4 1/3 innings Luzardo and Houston’s José Urquidy.
Braves 2, Marlins0
Rookie Ian Anderson pitched like anoctober veteran. Old pro Nick Markakis threw the best strike of the game. And just like that, the Atlanta Braves are on the verge of something they haven’t done since the days of Chipper, the Big Three and Bobby Cox.
Anderson blanked Miami into the sixth inning, Markakismade a nifty play in right field to help preserve the lead late, and the Braves threw another playoff shutout in a 2- 0 victory Wednesday for a 2- 0 lead in the NL Division Series.
The Braves have pitched three shutouts in four games during this year’s playoffs. They’re just the third team in MLB history to toss three shutouts in the first four games of a postseason, joining the 1966 Baltimore Orioles and the 1905 New York Giants.
Travis d’arnaud anddansby Swanson each homered for the second straight day, putting the Braves one win away from a sweep in the best-of-fivematchup. Game 3 is Thursday in Houston.
“It’s hard to bunch hits together, pitching is too good,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “Power, I think is something that plays in the postseason and was witnessed today.”
Atlanta hasn’t reached the NL Championship Series since 2001 when Chipper Jones, Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine and John Smoltz played under Cox.
The Braves have lost in the division series eight times since then, including in the last two seasons — a fact star slugger Freddie Freeman said put a chip on their shoulders entering this round.
Anderson scattered three hits and struck out eight over 5 2/3 innings. The lanky right- hander who made his major league debut in late August .
Atlanta’s Kylewright will make his postseason debut when he starts in Game 3 against rookie Sixto Sanchez. Wright hasn’t pitched since Sept. 25.