Pinder’s HR helps rally A’s past Astros 9-7
Pinder’s HR helps rally A’s past Astros 9-7, trail ALDS 2-1
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Chad Pinder tied the score with a three-run homer in the seventh inning, Sean Murphy hit a goahead sacrifice fly 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 best-of-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 for 4 with 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 pinchhitter 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. D√≠az hit a tying, tworun homer off rookie starter Jes√∫s Luzardo, and Brantley, Bregman and Tucker drove in runs. Houston was slowed when Jos√© Altuve was thrown out on a relay by Olson at first when he tried to go from first to third on Brantley’s single.