Neville E. Guard-USA TODAY Sports
A's Feel the Burn as Astros' Urquidy Tosses Career-High Eight Innings
Toeing the rubber against the Oakland A's for the first time this season, José Urquidy twirled a career-high eight innings, yielding three runs on four hits and one walk en route to his eighth quality start of the season.
After surrendering two runs in the second inning, the righty retired 11 straight, collecting his first win over Oakland in his career. The 27-year-old only struck out two batters on the 98 pitches he threw.
Over his last seven starts, Urquidy is sporting a 3.32 ERA in 43 1/3 innings pitched. The righty has struck out 31 batters in that span with a 0.95 WHIP to his name.
Houston Astros third baseman Alex Bregman and catcher Martín Maldonado
Neville E. Guard-USA TODAY Sports
After going down in order the first time through Friday, the Houston Astros got to Paul Blackburn quickly in the fourth. Aledmys Díaz was the club's first base runner in the top of the inning with a one-out double, putting him in scoring position with Yordan Álvarez to follow.
Álvarez continued his slugging ways, hitting an RBI double off the scoreboard in left field. Following the one-out double, Alex Bregman gave the Astros the lead with a two-run home run.
Jake Meyers and Mauricio Dubón opened the fifth inning with back-to-back singles, putting two on for a red-hot Martín Maldonado. The catcher followed a three-hit game on Thursday with his third home run in the last seven days, belting a three-run blast in the top of the inning.
The offense didn't stutter with a four-run lead. With two outs in the seventh, Bregman roped a double off the wall in left field, advancing Álvarez from first to third. Kyle Tucker and Yuli Gurriel followed with some insurance, driving in both runners on two-out singles.
Jeremy Peña — who was out of the lineup Thursday due to health and safety protocols — was cleared Friday, according to Danielle Lerner of the Houston Chronicle. The rookie was in the dugout in Oakland but did not appear in Thursday's contest.
The Astros look to win the series at 3:07 p.m. Saturday in Oakland. Framber Valdez will look to counter lefty Zach Logue.
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