Astros fail to reach 60 wins, lose 4-3 to A’s

On Sunday, the Astros couldn’t held the Athletics hitters and failed to reach their 60th win of the season as they lost 4-3 despite a good, powerful effort from rookie Jeremy Peña. This is the first series lost by Houston since June 10-12, when they dropped two out three against the Marlins.

Astros starter Jake Odorizzi threw five good innings, but he was hurt by rival hitters in the sixth. Odo surrendered a solo shot to Ramón Laureano and allowed two straight singles before being removed from the game.

With Ryne Stanek on the mound, Chad Pinder hit an RBI double and Stephen Vogt registered a sacrifice fly to tie the game 3-3. Odorizzi was charged with every scored run in that inning. The veteran righty pitched 5 1/3 innings of five hits, three earned runs, no walks, and five strikeouts.

Offensively, the Astros scored all their runs via the long ball. In the first inning, Kyle Tucker launched a solo home run for his 18th four-bagger of the campaign. Later, in the fifth, Jeremy Peña found José Altuve on base and went yard for a two-run knock, his 13th of the year.

With the Astros 3-0 up in the score, the A’s tied the game as mentioned.

But that wasn’t it for Oakland. Against Rafael Montero, Vogt hit a go-ahead single to make it 4-3 in the eighth. This time, the Astros were silenced by opponent relievers, who went 4 2/3 scoreless innings with five punchouts.

The Astros will have four days to rest and think about the second half of the season. They will resume the regular season in an interesting series against the Yankees at Minute Maid Park, where they hope Yordan Álvarez will be back from the IL.

Enjoy the All-Star break everyone!!!