The west coast, late night baseball can work both ways for fans two and three time-zones away. For many it's a game to skip in favor of a good nights rest. For some, like myself, it's an interesting change of pace and perfectly timed for night owls. But, even nights owls had to question the thought process of watching a game at midnight with the score standing at 7-0 Athletics in the fourth inning.
The early lopsided score comes at the hands of Brad Peacock and Yoenis Cespedes. Peacock, the Astros starter in game two with the A's, is under constant pressure to outperform Brett Oberholtzer. He has rebuffed Oberholtzer numerous times this season as Obi' has been called on to replace the injured and stayed for a six-man rotation. But, things are getting a bleak - Peacock was coming off a start where he failed to retire a second batter in his last start before the All-Star game. He wasn't taken out because he was getting hit around, but because manager Bo Porter didn't have confidence he could throw strikes in the game.
Fast forward to yesterday's game, the A's jumped on Peacock early. In the first, the A's loaded the bases after a force play at second was overturned with instant replay. This time Peacock was able to work out of the jam with a run scored. The same couldn't be said for the second inning, Jed Lowrie deposited a pitch over the right field wall to start the inning. The green and gold conga line would continue with four of the next five A's reached base after Lowrie - Josh Reddick walked, Eric Sogard singled, and Coco Crisp walked. John Jaso drove home a run with a sac fly, and Yoenis Cespedes hit the first of his two home runs of the night to put Oakland up 5-0 in the second.
Cespedes added a second home run in the fourth after a John Jaso double. Bo Porter would come for Peacock after his fifth walk of the game with two outs in the fourth. Peacock's line for the night - 7 ER, 7 H, 5 BB, 2 K, 23 batters faced. No bueno.
It looked like bed time for Houston fans and Astros players alike, down 7-0 in the fourth. But, Houston didn't roll over. Matt Dominguez, Robbie Grossman, and Enrique Hernandez loaded the bases in the fifth, Marwin Gonzalez grounded into a force play to score the Astros' first run. Jose Altuve would strand two runners in scoring position with a strikeout to end the inning.
Jon Singleton would a second run in the sixth with a double to score Jason Castro. Unfortunately the A's would match both these runs to make the score 9-2 heading into the eighth.
Former Baltimore closer Jim Johnson signed with the A's this offseason for a non-Moneyball price of $10 million dollars. Johnson quickly lost his job as the A's closer this season, and he appears to have reached rock bottom as he failed to retire a batter before being pulled. Jose Altuve and Jason Castro singled, and the new RBI machine Chris Carter double home a run. Marc Krauss' first hit back back in the majors drove home another run. Bob Melvin had enough, he pulled Johnson for Dan Otero.
Josh Donaldson gave the Astros an extra out with a throwing error, allowing Jon Singleton to reach base and Chris Carter to score. Robbie Grossman and Kike Hernandez's back-to-back singles drove in the Astros' sixth and seventh of the game. Alas, the five spot was not enough to get Houston back into the game.
It's a good thing the Astros rallied with everyone dreaming of super plums dancing in their heads, right? We've seen enough of Brad Peacock, right? That's enough weird baseball for one series. The Astros close out their series with the A's at 2:35 pm CT today - Feldman vs. Samardzija.