Astros 11, A’s 6:
Houston knocks Oakland out of postseason with a win in Game 4 of Division Series.
Frankie Montas looked ready to buck the trend Thursday. He flirted with 100 mph on his fastballs, exuberantly slapped his glove when Carlos Correa grounded into a double play, rolled merrily through the first three innings.
And then Montas had to navigate his way through the Astros’ order for the second time. That didn’t work out so well.
Houston batters treated Montas’ fourthinning pitches like a piñata, relentlessly swatting the ball around Dodger Stadium once again. Off they went, quickly erasing an early deficit on their way to a Division Seriesclinching 116 victory.
Manager Dusty Baker and his crew now head to San Diego for the ALCS, while the A’s head into the offseason — wondering what in the world happened to their starting pitching.
None of Oakland’s four starters in this series — Chris Bassitt, Sean Manaea, Jesús Luzardo and Montas — lasted five innings. That group collectively pitched 161⁄ innings, allowed 26 hits, 16 runs and eight homers and posted an 8.82 ERA.
Widen the scope and the numbers remain bleak. Only once in seven playoff games ( Bassitt in Game 2 against the White Sox) did an A’s starter pitch into the sixth inning. The rotation went 13 with a 6.67 ERA in the postseason overall.
“I think in the postseason, you tend to go to the bullpen earlier,” manager Bob Melvin said. “We just couldn’t hold them down in any facet, bullpen or starters. We did at times but nothing sustained through nine innings, and that’s why they won the series.”
A’s starters were solid during the pandemic shortened regular season. They went 2219 with a 4.49 ERA, tied for third in the major leagues in wins and generally kept the team in games, setting up a deep and impressive bullpen.
But those same starters ( and also the relievers) made costly mistakes in the playoffs, often leaving pitches up in the strike zone. This began with Luzardo relinquishing homers to Adam Engel and Jose Abreu in Game 1 of the wildcard series, and it continued through Montas surrendering booming homers to Michael Brantley and Correa on Thursday.
Montas faced 10 batters in his first three innings, allowing one hit and no runs. He seemed in total control. But the vibe suddenly changed in the fourth, when the first five Houston batters reached base: from Jose Altuve ( walk) and Brantley ( homer) to Alex Bregman ( single), Kyle Tucker ( single) and Correa ( long homer).
That quickly, Oakland’s 30 lead became a 53 deficit. Montas ultimately allowed six hits in the inning.
In the postseason, the White Sox and Astros hit .347 ( 43for124) against A’s starting pitchers.
For context, A’s starting pitchers had a .260 opponents’ batting average in the regular season.
“You face a team like the Astros, when you’ve seen them a lot, they’re familiar with our pitchers, too,” shortstop Marcus Semien said. “In certain counts, they’ll sit on certain pitches. … We have a good staff. I think the league knows that.
Every time a guy gets on second base, they talk about how good our pitchers are.
“Experience is key. This experience will make all our guys better. I’ve never seen a pitcher throw a lot of innings in the playoffs and not get better. I’m talking about Bassitt, Montas, these guys. They’re good and they’ll get better.”
That might be true — the A’s have three starters in their 20s in Luzardo ( 23), Montas ( 27) and Manaea ( 28). Bassitt ( 31) and Mike Fiers ( 35) completed the rotation during the regular season, with late help from Mike Minor ( 32).