Houston defeated the A’s by seven runs on Wednesday night.
The Houston Astros are continuing to win the games they should.
When you play the A’s, as they’re currently constructed, you should win somewhere between 60-70 percent of the time. That’s just good old-fashioned Kentucky windage, and even though I’d like to see Houston win 100 percent of the 13 contests, I’ve decided to be happy if they win 12-of-13. This was the fourth win, and there are eight games remaining in the series, including one on Thursday. See? All they need to do to make me happy is win, every day.
Jeremy Peña, Jose Altuve, Cam Smith, Victor Caratini, and Jake Meyers each collected three hits in Houston’s 11-4 win over the A’s. Altuve (12) Caratini (4), and Mauricio Dubón (3) all went deep. Framber Valdez (8-4, 3.09) pitched a Quality Start despite walking five in six innings, striking out three and surrendering two runs on five hits. Shawn Dubin struck out three over two perfect frames, and Nick Hernandez gave up two runs in a no-leverage ninth inning. Yainer Díaz and Dubón each also finished with multiple hits in the game.
It took us a while to get going. Then, once we got going, it was fun to watch those guys swing the bats. — Joe Espada
Most of the Astros damage to Sacramento came in the sixth inning. Leading 2-1, Houston opened the vault and unleashed seven runs, including Altuve and Caratini with three-run homers each.
Houston can claim the four-game series with a win tonight.