Bartolo Colon (4-2, 4.31) vs Dallas Keuchel (1-1, 4.93)
At least we don't have to face the A's again for almost two months. The same old song again - starting pitcher serves up a disaster inning, Astros can't come back, and the result is yet another loss. Oakland sweeps Houston for the third time this season, today by a 6-2 score, and the Astros drop to 14-36 overall.
On the Mound:
*Today's starting pitcher was Dallas Keuchel, and the disaster inning was a five-run 4th. To be fair, it was a Jose Altuve throwing error that started the trouble, but Keuchel did little to stop it. His line: 6 IP / 9 H / 6 R / 4 ER / 1 BB / 4 K.
*Jose Cisnero got the piggyback role today, and gave up only a single and a walk over three scoreless frames.
At the Plate:
*Jason Castro is officially a man on fire. He followed up last night's 3-for-4, 2-HR performance with a 4 for 4 outing today, and he scored Houston's first run.
*J.D. Martinez drove home that run with a RBI double, then later scored himself, finishing 1 for 4 with a K.
*Carlos Pena (2 for 4, K) and Ronny Cedeno (2 for 4) each had a multi-hit day.
*Chris Carter was 0 for 3 with 2 K, but got the other RBI on a sacrifice fly.
*Jose Altuve (1 for 5, K) and Carlos Corporan (1 for 3, BB, K) each had a single and an error.
*Trevor Crowe also singled to finish 1 for 5 with 2 K.
Turning Point:
The Astros actually out-hit Oakland today 12-10, but the A's clustered half their hits together in the 4th to do significantly more damage. The inning began with a throwing error by Jose Altuve, allowing Yoenis Cespedes to reach and advance to second safely. The sequence that followed went single-single-double-double-strikeout-groundout-single, giving Oakland an insurmountable 5-0 lead.
Man of the Match:
Jason Castro, now hitting .542 with 3 HR over his last 7 games.
Goat of the Game:
Dallas Keuchel. Even without the two unearned runs from Altuve's error, he still gave up more than the Astros could handle today.
