Punch, counterpunch
Elation of 3-run ninth short-lived as Gregerson allows decisive rally in bottom half
OAKLAND, Calif. — Colby Rasmus’ go-ahead home run in the ninth inning arced high to right field against a cloudless sky, its easily traceable trajectory allowing a slumping team to slowly exhale.
Without their offense for virtually all of this road trip — including most of Sunday afternoon — the Astros at last broke out at O.co Coliseum at the most opportune of times.
They trailed by two going into the ninth. Before an out was recorded against A’s closer Edward Mujica, they were ahead one because of Rasmus’ shot, which followed singles on consecutive pitches from Carlos Gomez and Jed Lowrie.
What came next counts as the lowest point in a mostly joyous season.
The A’s rallied immediately. Danny Valencia, claimed off waivers less than a week ago and destructive all series, hooked closer Luke Gregerson’s slider to left field with the
bases loaded and two out for a walkoff single and 5-4 A’s win.
“Didn’t turn out to be a big hit,” Rasmus said of his home run.
The game was tied at 4 one batter before Valencia. Josh Reddick hit a bases-loaded line drive that caught Gregerson, who has two blown saves in four days, on the left wrist. As the tying run scampered home, the ball bounded toward first base, dying between there and the mound with no play.
Blowing a 4-3 lead in the ninth is an ugly way to head into a day off for the Astros, who dropped three of four to the A’s and have lost six of seven on the road trip.
The clubhouse was quiet after the game, but steady mindsets seemed to prevail.
“Obviously, it’s the highest
of highs followed by the lowest of lows,” Astros manager A.J. Hinch said of the emotional swing in the ninth inning. “I love the fight in this team. I know it doesn’t feel good right now. I know this has been one of the tougher stretches. We’ve had a couple of these, but we’ll play the whole season. We’ll bounce back.”
Said Lowrie: “Every playoff team I’ve ever been on has gone through at least one stretch like this during the year. And the good ones find a way to pull through it.”
Gregerson was most bothered that his first two batters reached (which, coincidentally, was exactly how the Astros’ rally started in the ninth inning).
Hesitation costs Correa
The bottom of the inning started with a Mark Canha grounder that probably could have been an out had rookie shortstop Carlos Correa gotten rid of the ball sooner. Correa has an incredibly strong arm — “the best in the league,” per the manager’s assessment Sunday. But he does not have the quickest release.
Hinch said he thought Canha’s “jailbreak” out of the box might have surprised Correa, who took one stride too many before throwing.
“Maybe the extra step cost us,” Hinch said.
Righthanded hitter Josh Phegley then singled through the right side, beating the shift.
“The biggest part of the inning is getting that leadoff runner; getting that first out is always huge,” Gregerson said. “Not getting it, obviously, it’s not a good feeling. And then the second batter, looking back and thinking you have a routine double play and there’s only one person on that side of the field, it doesn’t make for a good success rate. I don’t know — just a bad inning.”
No one’s pressing, Gregerson said. But he does feel an inner anger because of what’s transpiring and suggested others do too.
“I think a lot of guys are just kind of a little upset with themselves,” he said. “I think guys don’t feel like they’re playing up to their caliber almost. And I feel just a little personal anger. Not even necessarily at teammates, just more so personally amongst guys. We know we’ve got better than this, and we know we can do better than this, and I think that they know they need to step up and we need to win some ballgames.”
Somehow, the Astros are in first place in the American League West by half a game, which is more a discredit to the Angels — or a credit to the insulation the Astros gave themselves in the standings.
Sunday’s game had been tied at 1 since the sixth inning until the A’s pulled ahead 3-1 in the eighth.
Harris falters
Astros reliever Will Harris was warming sideby-side with Pat Neshek, who, as the usual eighthinning man, presumably would have entered had the Astros been ahead. The A’s had their Nos. 8-9-1 hitters up — not the most threatening part of the order — and Hinch went with Harris. Phegley reached with a leadoff walk, and the A’s were in business.
Consecutive singles from Marcus Semien and Billy Burns followed for a 2-1 A’s lead. Reddick’s double off lefty Tony Sipp made it 3-1.
Harris has been one of the Astros’ best relievers, and walks are uncharacteristic of him. But Neshek is even better at preventing free passes, with just six allowed this season.
“Neshek’s a consideration in the eighth,” Hinch said. “Will Harris is a pretty good pitcher. The way it plays out, we love to talk about what-ifs, but we don’t really know what would have happened if Neshek starts that inning. And we’ll never know.”
Neshek eventually did enter, throwing just two pitches for the final out of the eighth. Hinch said there was no thought of sticking with Neshek for the ninth instead of Gregerson.
Valencia a terror
Valencia, who hit his second homer of the series in the fourth inning to open the scoring, went 6-for-11 with five RBIs in the four-game set. He was claimed off waivers from the Blue Jays on Aug. 3.
The lone Astros run before the Rasmus homer tied the game at 1 in the sixth. Correa lined a double to left-center with Jose Altuve on first base. Both players made the run happen with their legs — Correa stretched for second, Altuve for home —when they easily could have stopped a base sooner.
A’s starter Chris Bassitt struck out a career-high 10 batters. Both he and Mike Fiers, making his first start for the Astros, allowed one run in 62⁄3 innings.
“There’s so much that goes into the end of the game that makes us feel terrible right now,” Hinch said. “So many story lines in that game that ended up not being in our favor.”
Said Lowrie: “I think it’s about cleaning it up just a little bit. We don’t need to change anything.”