HOUSTON – In the game of baseball, every game is different and each win or loss counts. For the Houston Astros, losing last night to the Oakland Athletics 5-1 was a setback, but there’s still a long season left to go. In the AL West, the Houston Astros have a ten-game lead over the red-hot Seattle Mariners, who have won 12 games in a row. The Astros want to keep that lead going into the All-Star Break, to do that though, they must keep winning.
Today game features the Astros’ special Space City uniforms and NASA Day. Special guest Astronaut Anne McClain, who spent more than 200 days aboard the International Space Station in 2019, threw out the ceremonial first pitch. Another special guest was Astronaut Jessica Meir, who took part in the special “play ball” moment, she threw a baseball in the International Space Station recording a 17,500 mph pitch.
Astros All-Star right-hander Justin Verlander (11-3) took the mound against A’s rookie left-hander Jared Koenig (1-3), looking to make history and move up in the all-time strikeouts list. As for the Astros defense, they needed to make sure not to commit errors especially on ground balls in which they have struggled with the past few games.
With two outs in the bottom of the second inning, the Astros started to get the bats going. Yuli Gurriel and Jake Meyers would both single to left and center, respectively. Which put them on first and second base. Jared Koenig walked Chas McCormick to load the bases and then Martin Maldonaldo homered to center (416ft) to give the Astros a commanding 4-0 lead, making it the play of the day.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, Houston’s Aledmys Diaz walked, Yuli Gurriel singled to center which put two men on first and second with no outs. However, Jake Meyers grounded to shortshop, ending with a double play, while Diaz would advance to third. The Astros once again scored a run with two outs as Chas McCormick singled to left to extend the lead to 5-0 for the Astros.
Justin Verlander would strike out two batters in each of the first three innings. Despite giving up a few hits, the A’s would not get a runner past second until top of the fifth. He would finish with six hits and ten strikeouts in six scoreless innings. In the top of the fourth, history was made as Verlander would strike out Skye Bolt to record his 3,118 careers strikeout passing Curt Schilling (3,116) and Hall of Famer Bob Gibson (3,117) moving him to 14th place in most strikeouts in MLB history. He also recorded 12th win of the season and his 237th win as a pitcher which puts him in 58th place in most wins in MLB history as well.
No errors were committed by the Astros this game, in the top of ninth, Astros reliever Bryan Abreu came in to finish off the A’s. The A’s tried to get a rally going when Sean Murphy and Skye Bolt walked putting two men on base. Abreu would a get a mound visit from the Astros pitching coach, and afterwards would strikeout three batters to win the game for the Houston Astros 5-0.
The series is tied 1-1 with one more game left to go before the All-Star Break. Martin Maldonaldo’s grand slam was his first since June 4, 2021, at Toronto off LHP Hyun Jin Ryu. A’s pitcher Koenig finished with five runs on six hits, two walks, and three strikeouts. The Houston Astros will try get their 60th win on the season and take the series tomorrow with right-handed pitcher Jake Odorizzi taking the mound. The A’s pitcher has yet to be announced.
Written by James Leyva