Saturday, April 19, 2014

From the Office of the County Clerk - G17: Astros @ Athletics

Jarred Cosart (1-1, 4.00) vs Sonny Gray (2-0, 0.95)

Well. Then. Houston managed to get some offense: George Springer and three other Astros had multi-hit games, and the team tied a season high with 10 hits. But the starting pitching was the worst it's been all year, so this one was over pretty much as soon as it started. Oakland stomps the Astros 11-3, sending Houston to their fifth straight loss, and dropping them to 5-12 overall.

On the Mound:

*Congratulations, Jarred Cosart, on Houston's official first disaster start of the season. 7 runs allowed and only one out recorded, so... yeah. Bad. Line: 0.1 IP / 3 H / 7 R / 7 ER / 4 BB / 0 K.

*Paul (Not Roger) Clemens got the undesirably early call from the bullpen, and wasn't worse than Cosart, but obviously that's not saying much. His line: 4.1 IP / 5 H / 3 R / 3 ER / 2 BB / 1 K.

*Matt Albers took over for Clemens to end the 5th and turned in 1.1 IP scoreless, allowing only a single and a walk.

*Raul Valdes made his Houston debut, but allowed a single and two walks in 0.2 IP, resulting in another Oakland run after he left.

*Josh Fields came in with the bases loaded in the 7th and walked in Valdes' run, but recorded four straight outs after that to finish the 8th.

At the Plate:

*In better news, George Springer got his first start in the cleanup spot, his first multi-hit game, his first stolen base, and his first RBI, finishing 2x5 with a K.

*Dexter Fowler got his first multi-hit game since the season opening series against the Yanks, going 2x4 with a R, a BB, and a RBI.

*Jose Altuve led off tonight and went 2x5 with a R.

*Jonathan Villar also went multi-hit, with a 2x4, R, K night.

*Jason Castro had a double to go 1x4 with a BB and 2 K.

*L.J. Hoes had Houston's other hit, going 1x4.

*Chris Carter went 0x4 with 3 K, but had Houston's other RBI on a sac fly.

Turning Point:

The peak of the game for Houston was getting Jason Castro to third base on a double and an error in the 1st, but he didn't score. Then Jarred Cosart's disaster began. So it went: walk, ground out, wild pitch, walk, walk, single, 3-run homer, walk, 2-run homer, shower. 7-0 Oakland before the second out was recorded. Mmyep.

Man of the Match:

George Springer. Three game hitting streak with three games in the majors so far.

Goat of the Game:

Jarred Cosart. Could not throw strikes. Could not get outs.