A’s: A few bright spots as trip ends with loss to Astros
HOUSTON — If a pretty good loss is possible, the A’s put together one Thursday.
Oakland played superbly in the field, with outstanding catches by Matt Joyce and Adam Rosales, and rookie Daniel Gossett was terrific at times in his fourth big-league start. Sure, the A’s lost 6-1 the Astros, but the team with the majors’ best record routinely makes Oakland look silly and Thursday was anything but that.
Rosales made a great diving catch in the third inning on a liner by Alex Bregman, but it was Joyce who made the best play of the day. With one out in the first, Josh Reddick hit a high drive to deep right and Joyce leaped with his glove extended well over the top of the fence, to haul in the ball, taking away a homer.
“It got to the point where I was like, ‘I know I’m close, so let’s go for it,’ and jumped up,” Joyce said. “I know there were fans reaching for it. I felt the fans in there with me trying to get the ball. It was nice to come down with it.”
“Reddick-esque,” manager Bob Melvin said. “Kind of apropos he robbed him.”
Reddick, who made many such a grab while the A’s right fielder, doffed his helmet in respect. “I did see Reddick, and I’ve had that done to me. B.J. Upton got me last year. and it’s a tough feeling for a hitter,” Joyce said. “But it’s fun as an outfielder to take a hit away like that.”
Gossett was standing on the mound fearing the worst.
“I saw him going back and I knew it would either be gone or he’d do something unbelievable,” Gossett said. “Thank goodness it was the latter. I had no clue. It was one of those where you’re holding your breath. I saw him go up and I thought he missed it. When he showed the ball, the heart rate went went up a little bit. It was awesome.”
Gossett retired the first 10 Houston hitters before Reddick’s one-out double in the fourth, and with two outs, Carlos Correa drove a 3-2 pitch over the wall in right-center. The next inning, Gossett squeaked his way out of major trouble. The Astros loaded the bases with nobody out, and Gossett struck out Jake Marisnick and got George Springer to line into a double play.
Reddick and Correa struck again in the sixth, though. Reddick singled and Jose Altuve doubled him in. Then Correa added his second homer of the day, chasing Gossett. Reddick, who is batting .419 against Oakland this year, added a sacrifice fly off Michael Brady in the seventh.
Gossett hadn’t allowed an earned run in his previous outing, and he’d limited Houston to two runs in 62⁄3 innings on June 19.
“I wasn’t getting ahead very well, 1-0, 2-0 to every batter,” he said. “I’ve got to throw more pitches in the zone or that stuff will happen. It’s quality pitches late in the game.”
The A’s run came in the fourth against Brad Peacock, a onetime A’s minor-leaguer. Ryon Healy and Matt Olson singled to open the inning, Josh Phegley walked, and with one out, Rosales drove in a run with a fielder’s-choice groundball. Rosales is a career 3-for-37 with the bases loaded.
Oakland hitters struck out 14 times, went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left 11 men on.
“They had a bunch of timely hits and we didn’t,” Melvin said. “We had a bunch of guys left on base early in the game, drew some walks but couldn’t get a big hit.”
Jaycob Brugman recorded his first big-league steal, taking second base in the sixth.
The A’s won the first four games on the trip before dropping the last two, recording their first winning road trip of the season.
“Compared to what we’ve been doing, we’ll take it,” Melvin said. “It’s something to build on.”