Astros Pile On in the Eighth, End Series with a 6-3 Win Over Oakland

Another strong Framber start gets strong support from the back of the Astros lineup

Wow. Call me a pessimist. I thought for sure that after the Astros bullpen blew a 2-1 late lead, that the Astros were for sure headed for their fourth straight loss with the Seattle Mariners breathing down their back.

But for the first time in a while, they took back the lead with some late-inning heroics, and the Astros head to California with their AL West lead of 3.5 games intact as the season draws ever closer to its conclusion.

The Astros took the early lead when Dodger outcast and one of the newest Astros, Jason Heyward, put the Astros on the board first with a two run homer on an 0-2, low-outside curve to give the Stros a 2-0 lead after two. The homer followed a Jon Singleton double off As starter Mitch Spence. Heyward’s first dinger as an Astro broke the team home run drought during this series with Oakland.

That was all the Astros would need until the eighth inning behind another strong start by Framber Valdez. Although not quite as unhittable as in some recent starts, he would give the Astros 6.1 innings of one run ball, allowing five hits and one walk with six Ks. He left the game after allowing a run in the seventh leading 2-1. Bryan Abreu quickly suppressed the As’ offense for the next two outs to preserve the slim Astros lead.

All hope seemed lost when Ryan Pressly came in in the eighth inning. Brent Rooker tied the score against Pressly with a long homer to left field.

All Houston gasped in unison, “Oh no, they’re going to blow another close game.”

But the Astros finally found their bats against a tired As bullpen in the eighth inning, scoring four runs with two outs. One out singles by Yainer Diaz and Kyle Tucker off Grant Holman set up Singleton for a two-out, RBI single to tie the score. Jake Meyers put the Astros on top with an RBI double against T.J McFarland, and Mauricio Dubon provided the necessary cushion with a two-RBI single, putting the Astros up 6-2.

Thank you Dubon, we needed you. The third leg of the supposedly unhittable late inning bullpen stool, Josh Hader, gave up yet another homer, but for the As, to no avail.

The Astros head to Anaheim, or Los Angeles, wherever it is, on a winning note.

Kudos to the bottom of the Astros lineup today. 6-9 in the order were 7-17 with all six RBI and four of the runs scored. Kyle Tucker broke through with two convincing hits, and Yainer Diaz had another multi-hit game, going 3-4 and getting his BA back over .300.

Box score HERE.