Game Recap: Astros Clobber the A’s and George Springer Makes History

Just in case you’re still up, the Houston Astros just finished an absolute demolition of the Oakland Athletics. This was just the response that the team needed after a rough week that included losing 3 out of 4 to the New York Yankees at home and then 2 out of 3 on the road to one of the better teams in baseball, the Arizona Diamondbacks.

The most notable performances in the game were Dallas Keuchel, Marwin Gonzalez, Evan Gattis, and George Springer.

Keuchel simply got the job done tonight in a game where the outcome really was not in question after the top half of the fourth inning. Still, the Astros veteran left-hander performed in a typical fashion, recording 12 out of his 24 total outs via the ground out and finishing the game with a whiff rate of 7.92%. The Astros needed their starter to eat a bunch of innings tonight in order to avoid using the bullpen in a lop-sided game and Keuchel did what was asked of him.

Marwin Gonzalez finally had a breakout game after quietly playing pretty well over his last 10 games. Despite the Astros’ offensive struggles this past week, Marwin actually entered tonight’s contest with a .281 batting average, .385 on-base percentage, 1 home run, and 6 runs batted in over his last 10 games. Tonight, Marwin added 5 more runs batted in, clubbed his third home run of the season, and improved his batting average for the season from .234 to .248. Overall, a great night in the Bay Area for World Series Game 2 hero Marwin Gonzalez.

Evan Gattis had a notable performance because he got a hit (his first since April 27)! Hoping to see a few more of these from Gattis before season’s end.

Finally, George Springer’s six-hit game was one of the greatest hitting performances in Houston Astros history, as Joe Morgan accomplished this feat back in 1965 in a game that went into extra innings. One of Springer’s hits was definitely louder than the others, as the Astros leadoff hitter clubbed a patented #SpringerDinger that traveled 462 feet. This home run was also the Astros’ longest of the season. Springer’s World Series performance certainly placed him up there with all the Astros greats, but tonight was yet another example of how Springer can transform a game in any second and turn in a historic game any given night.

The Astros will look to take a commanding lead in this series tomorrow night behind Lance McCullers Jr., but they’ll have to get through Sean Manaea. Good night everyone.

Also, you’ve just got to love how genuinely happy Jose Altuve is for his teammate in this video. Pretty funny to watch.