Houston Astros' Big First Inning Not Enough to Down Oakland A's

Although hitting three home runs in the first inning, the Houston Astros didn't have an effective night off the mound.

Home runs were launched in bunches for the Houston Astros on Saturday. Aledmys Díaz, Kyle Tucker and Trey Mancini all drove balls over the outfield wall for the Houston Astros in the first inning, giving the hometown nine an early four-run lead.

But success with the long ball didn't carry the Astros to victory due to a flurry of scoring from the Oakland A's off José Urquidy. The A's found their first run in the opening frame on a Sean Murphy single to score Tony Kemp.

And after going quiet in the second frame, Oakland found a second run to cross in the third inning, cutting the deficit in half. Chad Pinder slapped a solo home run in the fourth inning, and Seth Brown blew the contest open in the fifth inning.

On a 0-1 count, Brown took the second pitch he saw from Urquidy and turned it into three runs on his 23rd home run of the season. Oakland chipped away to take a 6-4 lead after five innings of play.

Urquidy yielded six runs on seven hits — two home runs — and two walks Saturday. Throwing 64 of his 93 pitches for strikes, the righty waved six batters but dropped his season ERA to 3.96.

Brown wasn't done after Urquidy's departure though. The right fielder picked up his fourth RBI of the night on a two-out double to score Murphy from first base in the seventh inning.

Yordan Álvarez inched the Astros closer on an eighth-inning solo home run, trailing only two runs at the time. But Vimael Machín matched the slugger's contributions with an RBI single in the top of the ninth inning.

With a runner on in Houston's half of the frame at the plate, Christian Vázquez rolled into a double play to end any threat. Since his acquisition from the Boston Red Sox at the trade deadline, the catcher has slashed .247/.284/.260 with one extra-base hit in 25 games played.

The Astros look for a series win starting at 1:10 p.m. Sunday with Framber Valdez taking the rubber. The A's will counter with lefty Ken Waldichuk for his fourth-career start.

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