MLB Scores: Astros 3, Athletics 2

Th e Astros are only seven losses away from their third straight 100-loss season. If the Astros can go 16-6 the remaining 22 games of the season they'll finish with less than a 100 losses for the first time since 2010. It may be a bit naive to expect a record like that, however, that doesn't mean it's impossible or out of the realm of possibility. And for what it's worth the Astros have played winning baseball in the month of September, with a 3-2 record. They're off to a good start; unfortunately, they play the Reds, Indians, Rangers and Yankees to finish off the season. Not the easiest path to avoiding 100 losses, but it's something to root for and if they can pull it off it's a great accomplishment for the season.

I'm going to try something a little different with this recap and instead of doing the usual recap (which everyone does a much better job of than me) highlight the three best performances of the night.

First Star

Brad Peacock, 7 innings pitched, five hits two runs (both earned), one walk and nine strikeouts. I didn't stay up for the entire game but I did last until the fifth inning and what I saw was a pitcher that's discovered an absolutely fantastic curveball.

Second Star

The bullpen, Kevin Chapman, Jorge De Leon and Josh Fields combined to pitch two innings of one hit ball while striking out one batter. That's an oversimplification of what actually happened. Peacock started the eighth allowed his first run on a triple and a double. He was then replaced by Chapman who got Astros Killer Coco Crisp to strikeout, Josh Donaldson to ground out. Former-Astro Jed Lowrie then got a bunt single. Chapman was replaced by Jorge De Leon who allowed Alberto Callaspo to reach on a fielders choice with two outs (here's video of the play). He was then replaced by Josh Fields who got Yoenis Cespedes to strikeout.

Fields then pitched a perfect ninth for the save, his third on the season. /slaphands

Third Star

No one really stood out on the offense: three runs, eight hits, two runs batted in, one walk and nine strikeouts. What you should take away from this is that the Athletics had more strikeouts than Astros. The difference was only one strikeout but still the Astros put the ball in play one more time than the Athletics and sometimes that can be a good thing.

GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL!