Oakland completes sweep, wins 4-2.

Hey TCB! I wanted to take a quick moment to introduce myself. My name is Sean, and I’ve been a lifelong Pirates fan – definitely not a person who ever expected to be writing about an ex-division rival in the Astros, but after talking to Brian / HebrewHammer about the community here I’m excited to give it a try! Admittedly, I won’t know all of the team history, but after watching former Pirate and Astros fan favorite Charlie Morton turn into an ace, what’s one more Yinzer added in! Now enough about me, let’s see how the Astros did today.

The A’s get the victory and the series sweep behind a solid pitching performance from starter Cole Irvin. While the Astros bats remain dormant.

The Astros threatened early getting two men on in the first but were not able to capitalize.

The A’s struck first as Stephen Vogt blasted a 1-1 pitch to deep right center for his 5th of the year in the 2nd. Wasting no time Stephen Piscotty took the first pitch he saw and deposited a 383ft dinger to almost the same spot as Vogt. With the early 2-0 lead for the Athletics things started to look all too familiar to the last two games.

Though the bats were silent through four, Jake Meyers flashed his range and kept one from landing, before showing off his skills from the other side of the ball in the following inning.

After a one out single by Doubon, Jake Meyers hit his second triple of the year to center field putting the Astros on the board! Watching him fly out of the box and getting to third standing up was beautiful. 2-1 Oakland but we are officially on the board.

Oakland wasted no time, getting the run back in the fifth though. Kemp continued to crush his former team with a two out double, scoring Bride who had advanced to third on a wild pitch by Javier.

In the bottom half, Yordan Alvarez crushed his 29th HR of the year cutting the lead back to one, and allowing all of us to breathe a sigh of relief that his hand is feeling better.

The A’s added another insurance run in the seventh, this time off a Skye bolt single that scored Piscotty from second. Piscotty had reached second after a pass ball, another miscue at the backstop position.

Damage done.

A.J. Puk would come in and close out the 9th with a 1-2-3 inning with a rare sweep of the Astros. With only 5 hits mustered by the Astros offense, Oakland proved to be too much this series. Coming home for four against the Mariners, this offense needs to wake up.

First pitch tomorrow is at 7:10 from Minutemaid Park. José Urquidy takes the mound for the Astros. Logan Gilbert opposes him for Seattle.

Box scores and videos here