Héctor Neris and Kyle Tucker, two usually reliable players for the Houston Astros, didn’t perform to their usual standards on Tuesday night. Neris’ fielding woes and Tucker’s 0-for-6 night hitting proved harmful to the Astros, who lost 4-3 in 12 innings to the Oakland A’s. It marks the second straight loss for Houston, who got whacked 12-6 on Sunday by the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Astros starter Spencer Arrighetti only gave up two runs in 6 2/3 innings of work. Kaleb Ort, Ryan Pressly, Josh Hader and Bryan Abreu were solid in relief of Arrighetti. But Neris, who was picked up by the Astros after getting released by the Chicago Cubs, failed this time out.
Houston Astros Suffer Tough Setback
Extra-inning games have not been good to the Houston Astros. And, it’s something that just might come back and haunt the team down the stretch. Yes, the Astros still have a pretty good lead over the Seattle Mariners in the American League West Division. But being able to score wins in extras can help a team even in postseason play.
In the top of the 12th inning, the A’s put down three straight bunts off Neris (9-5), who got the loss. Oakland scored twice to take a 4-2 lead at the time. Their “small ball” offensive output broke a 2-2 tie between the A’s and Astros at Minute Maid Park. Jose Altuve’s RBI double leading off the bottom of the 12th inning put the Astros within 4-3. But he got as far as third base as Yordan Alvarez, Tucker, and Alex Bregman could not score their teammate.
Arrighetti, beyond the two runs he allowed, also gave up seven hits while walking one in his outing. He pitched much better than his last outing, where he gave up nine runs (three earned) in two-thirds of an inning at Cincinnati last Wednesday.
As for the A’s, JP Sears threw six scoreless innings in his start, allowing four singles and striking out one batter, The Associated Press reported. Houston only had two runners get on base against Sears. The Houston Astros tied the game at 2-2 in the seventh with Jon Singleton’s RBI triple and Altuve’s bloop RBI single. Hogan Harris (4-3) picked up the victory in relief for Oakland.
Astros Still Hold AL West Lead
With the loss, the Houston Astros fall to 77-66 overall this season. There are 18 games left in the regular season for Houston. While they do have a lead over the Mariners, being able to clinch the AL West sooner rather than later would suit Astros manager Joe Espada just fine. The team started a string of playing 16 straight days on Tuesday night. The Astros will be expanding to a six-man pitching rotation, getting Ronel Blanco back in the mix again.
Astros outfielder Chas McCormick, who has been better at the plate lately, left the game with right wrist discomfort in the fifth inning. No updates on his condition were available from the team after the game.
The three-game series in Houston continues on Wednesday night. The Astros will send Hunter Brown (11-7, 3.41 ERA) out to the mound against Oakland’s Joey Estes (6-7, 4.46 ERA).
In some Astros’ minor-league news, infielder Brice Matthews has been promoted to the Triple-A Sugar Land Space Cowboys.
MLB.com reported that Matthews started his season at High-A Asheville, where he hit .321 before getting promoted to the Double-A Corpus Christi Hooks. Matthews, who was the Astros’ first-round pick in the 2023 MLB Draft out of Nebraska, hit .252 in 42 games there. He had eight doubles, nine homers, 16 stolen bases, and 21 RBIs. Corpus Christi only has six games left in its season. But Sugar Land will be wrapping up its regular season with 12 games. Then, the Space Cowboys qualified for the Pacific Coast League Championship Series, so it will give Matthews more playing time.
