A's Lose Blowout to Houston Astros

The Athletics have lost back-to-back games in blowout fashion, as they lost Wednesday's affair by a score of 11-4. A's ace Luis Severino took the mound for the team and gave the team five innings, allowing a pair of earned runs on nine hits, walking one, and punching out five Houston Astros hitters.

Southpaw Framber Valdez took the mound for the visiting Astros, and he was able to go six innings, also allowing a pair of runs on five hits, but he also walked five hitters, and had just three strikeouts. Valdez showed a bit of a free-base problem, but the A's weren't able to capitalize on the limited opportunities they were given.

The A's would take an early lead in the game, as catcher Austin Wynns was able to drive in Nick Kurtz. However, the A's lead 1-0 wouldn't last very long. Houston would respond in the third as Mauricio Dubón would take Luis Severino deep, his third of the year and second in as many days, to tie the game.

The Astros would strike again as shortstop Jeremy Peña would drive in Victor Caratini to take a 2-1 lead in the fifth. Houston managed four hits off Severino in the frame, and he needed 36 pitches to get through the inning, which ballooned his pitch count. In the sixth, Jose Altuve would strike his second home run on the series, this one a three-run shot, to continue to extend the Houston lead to 5-1.

The sixth inning would continue with a Cam Smith RBI double, and then a Victor Caratini home run to put the Astros up 9-1. Houston would score seven times in the inning, with six of those being charged to Tyler Ferguson and one to Sean Newcomb, who gave up Caratini's three-run home run on the first pitch.

Nick Kurtz would drive in Luis Urías in the bottom of the inning to make the score 9-2, but at this point, the damage had already been dealt.

In the top of the ninth, Hogan Harris would come on for the A's, but he'd continue the run carousel for Houston, as a Jake Meyers RBI double and a Jeremy Peña RBI would bring the score to 11-2.

Nick Kurtz would hit his eighth home run on the season, and his third in the last four games in the bottom of the ninth. The power showcase of Kurtz recently has been pretty amazing to see, as all three of those home runs have come in the ninth inning, with one being a go-ahead shot, and another being a game winner.

Austin Wynns would double to set up an RBI bloop single from Max Schuemann to put the A's deficit to seven, but that would conclude the scoring as the A's lost 11-4.

Minus Luis Severino's solid start, the A's pitching staff blundered yet another game. Tyler Ferguson's struggles have continued, and that ultimately opened up the game for the Astros to have a very comfortable lead over the Green and Gold.

Tomorrow's series finale will be at 7:05 p.m. PT once again. The A's will have the 27-year-old southpaw Jacob Lopez on the mound to face a tough Astros lineup. In two of Lopez's last three starts, the lefty has punched out 9 opposing hitters. Lopez will certainly look to continue striking out lots of hitters, especially with the team looking to split the series against the AL West leaders at home.

The A's offense will be facing left-hander Colton Gordon. Gordon holds a 4.70 ERA in 30 2/3 innings pitched. The lefty is coming off a pair of good starts against the Guardians and Twins, where he allowed one and two earned runs in each. The A's offense will look to score early to give the A's a comfortable lead before they have to turn to the struggling bullpen.