Astros 9, Athletics 3: Altuve, Feldman put game out of reach early

After a long, cold, and rainy night in Oakland on Friday. The sun came out today and so did the Astros bats.

Houston faced Athletics starter Kendall Graveman for the second time this season, after holding the Astros hitless for 5 1/3 innings in the first outing. It wouldn't be the same the second time around, the Astros hit Graveman early and often. Luis Valbuena and Jed Lowrie's back-to-back doubles put the Astros on the board early. Jose Altuve put the game out of reach for the A's in the second. Altuve ripped a three-run home run over the left field wall, putting the Astros up 4-0.

Scott Feldman did his job, allowed three earned runs five hits over 6.2 innings. He struck out six and walked two. Feldman allowed just two hits through the first six innings and kept the A's off the board. The wheels fell off in the seventh, three straight Athletics reached base with one out. One force place and Eric Sogard triple later, the A's had three runs.

At the time the scoreboard read 8-3. The Astros had padded their lead with a three-straight hits in the fifth. A double from George Springer, a Jed Lowrie single, a Colby Rasmus single, and a wild pitch resulted in two runs. Another two runs came in the seventh, after two A's fielding errors from outfielders Josh Reddick and Cody Ross. The errors allowed Valbuena, Lowrie, and Rasmus to load the bases. Chris Carter singled home a run, and Jason Castro forced home a run on groundout.

Springer added the cherry on top with his second home run of the season. The Astros bullpen allowed no runs and just one hit in 2 1/3 innings of work. Josh Fields returned to action after a sent to start the season on the disabled list, striking out and walking one in a scoreless eight inning.

With Saturday's win, the Astros reached 10 wins in just 17 games and collected their fourth series victory this young season. In 2014, the Astros didn't reach 10 wins till the 29th game of the season, and their fourth series victory came after game 41. In 2013, Houston reached 10 wins in 34 games and four series victories in 47 games. The Astros are make steps in the right direction.