A’s 10, Astros 2: Youthful Oakland sweeps four-game series from West-leading Houston.
September is all about the A’s young players making strides, and this weekend’s series against Houston was a good indication that the kids are all right.
Oakland topped the Astros 10-2 Sunday at the Coliseum to vigorously sweep four games from the division leaders, outscoring the Astros 41-15.
Entering the series, the A’s had lost 19 of their previous 22 games against Houston, and the AL West’s last-place team also had lost eight of its past nine games overall. The rookies led the way against the Astros, though, including Sunday, when Matt Chapman, Boog Powell and Matt Olson all homered.
Ryon Healy, an old pro at 25 with nearly a year and a half of major-league experience under his belt, added a two-run homer in the seventh. “It’s special,” Healy said. “A lot of really, really positive things going on.”
Oakland swept Houston in four games for the first time in team history, and A’s rookies, seven of them, combined to go 27-for-68 (.397) with 26 runs, 26 RBIs, five doubles, two triples, eight homers and 10 walks.
“They’re growing and maturing, and you can start to see things coming together with the consistency of their playing time,” Houston manager A.J. Hinch said. “More so, what I’ve seen is this group played together in the minors; they’ve played together in the major leagues now. You can start to see a core developing that’s starting to play together as a unit . ... There’s some excitement there.
“They’re dangerous. And as they start to mature, they’ll be tough to match up with.”
One scout who was at the Coliseum all week was highly complimentary of Oakland’s rookies. “Overall, they’re much more athletic. That is really showing up on the bases and on defense,” he said, adding that Chapman is at the top of all of his defensive rankings and that Chad Pinder “might be the most valuable player of all: versatility and power. I’m very impressed with how he’s improved in the outfield . ...
“This is the best energy level they have had since the Josh Donaldson years.”
Pinder made two standout catches in right field Sunday, racing to the warning track for an outstretched, backhand grab of a drive by George Springer in the third and, the next inning, chasing down a long fly by Carlos Correa in the corner. “The first one was unbelievable,” A’s starter Kendall Graveman said.
Graveman went six innings and allowed five hits, two walks and a run. He struck out three and earned his fifth victory of the season.
The A’s took advantage of some uncharacteristic wildness by Houston’s Dallas Keuchel, who walked in two runs in the sixth and hit a batter to send in another. He threw 40 pitches in the inning and exited with two outs. Olson and Powell hit tworun homers in the eighth.
Houston outfielder Jake Marisnick was ejected in the fourth when, after his second called strikeout of the day, he slammed his helmet to the ground.
The A’s also swept a fourgame series from the Yankees in June, and this is just the second time Oakland has swept two four-game series in the same season. The other time was in 1977. The ’77 A’s finished last in the seven-team AL West with a 63-98 record.