For five innings Friday night, Hunter Brown and the Astros appeared to be doing exactly what they needed to do.
Then the sixth inning happened.
The Athletics scored six runs in the inning, turning a 1-0 Houston lead into a 6-1 deficit, and held off a late Astros rally for a 6-5 win at Sutter Health Park. Houston fell to 79-81 with two games remaining in the regular season.
Texas also lost, falling 10-2 to Minnesota, leaving the Astros and Rangers tied atop the AL West. Houston owns the tiebreaker after winning the season series 9-4 and needs only to match Texas over the final two games to win the division.
Brown Keeps Athletics Off the Board
Houston managed little against Athletics starter Jacob Lopez early, but Christian Walker gave Brown a lead in the fourth with his 28th home run of the season, a solo shot to left.
Brown kept the 1-0 lead intact through five innings. He worked around four walks and an Isaac Paredes error in the third while allowing only one hit through the first five.
Jeff McNeil opened the sixth with a single before Zack Gelof hit a grounder to Jeremy Peña. Peña’s throw to second was low, and Jose Altuve was charged with an error when he failed to hold it, leaving runners at first and second with nobody out. Altuve said afterward it was a play he should have made.
Donovan Walton moved both runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. Joe Espada then removed Brown after 5 1/3 innings and 100 pitches. Brown was charged with two runs, one earned, on two hits and four walks while striking out four.
Sixth Inning Unravels
Bennett Sousa entered with one out and runners at second and third, and the game quickly turned.
Pinch-hitter Michael Stefanic singled home both runners to give the Athletics a 2-1 lead. Tommy White followed with another single, and Jonah Heim singled home Stefanic to make it 3-1. Sousa faced three batters, allowed hits to all three and failed to record an out.
AJ Blubaugh replaced Sousa, but Henry Bolte greeted him with a two-run triple that stretched the lead to 5-1. Lawrence Butler followed with a fielder’s choice that brought Bolte home for the sixth run of the inning. Blubaugh finally stopped the damage by striking out Shea Langeliers and retiring McNeil on a fly ball.
The pitching change came with Houston’s bullpen already carrying a heavy workload. Brown said after the game that the bullpen was “banged up” after throwing 20 innings over the previous three games and indicated that he wanted the opportunity to work out of the jam. Espada said he considered leaving Brown in but chose Sousa because of the left-hander’s success against right-handed hitters this season.
Astros Fall Short in Rally
Houston began digging out of the five-run hole in the seventh when Cam Smith hit his 21st home run of the season, cutting the Athletics’ lead to 6-2.
The Astros made their biggest push in the eighth.
LaMonte Wade Jr. walked, Yordan Alvarez singled, and Paredes walked to load the bases with one out. Altuve’s sacrifice fly brought Wade home, and Yainer Diaz followed with an RBI single that scored Alvarez and cut the deficit to 6-4. Christian Walker walked to reload the bases before a Luis Medina wild pitch scored Paredes and moved the tying run to third and the go-ahead run to second.
Cam Smith worked the count full but struck out swinging, ending the inning with Houston trailing 6-5.
There would be no final rally. Nelson Velázquez drew a one-out walk in the ninth, and Taylor Trammell entered to pinch-run, but Peña grounded into a game-ending double play.
AL West Still Tied With Two to Go
The Astros missed an opportunity to take sole possession of first place of the AL West after Texas suffered a 10-2 loss to Minnesota. Instead, Houston and Texas enter Saturday with identical 79-81 records and only two games remaining.
Because Houston won the season series against Texas 9-4, the Astros hold the tiebreaker and will win the division if they match the Rangers over the final two games. With a win over the Athletics and a Texas loss to Minnesota, Houston can clinch the division Saturday.
The Astros continue the series Saturday at Sutter Health Park. Hayden Wesneski (5-2, 3.50 ERA) starts for Houston against Jack Perkins (3-12, 5.90 ERA), with first pitch scheduled for 8:40 p.m. CT.
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