HOUSTON — Zack Gelof hit an early home run, Max Schuemann and Nick Allen scored on bunts in the 12th inning and the Oakland Athletics beat the Houston Astros 4-3 on Tuesday night.
With the score tied 2-2, Daz Cameron’s bunt single at the start of the 12th inning sent Gelof, the automatic runner, to third base.
Schuemann then hit a bunt to Héctor Neris (9-5), who homered his throw while Gelof scored on the sacrifice. Cameron advanced to third base on the error as the ball rolled down the field.
With runners on the corners, Allen hit a bunt that scored Cameron and gave him a 4-2 lead.
“That was well done,” manager Mark Kotsay said. “Daz was obviously trying to get a hit … We had a couple of guys up there that could bunt, and they do it well with Schuman and Allen. We took advantage of our opportunities to score a run.”
Houston manager Joe Espada was disappointed with his team’s defense in the 12th inning.
“We just didn’t have a good handle on the ball in this inning,” Espada said.
Jose Altuve hit an RBI double as the first batter in the bottom half against Hogan Harris (4-3), who struck out the next three batters. Houston went 2 for 17 with runners in scoring position.
“We fought to the end,” Espada said. “We had the right guys at bat when we wanted to, but we just couldn’t – it was just one of those games.”
Bryan Abreu struck out the team in the 11th inning for Houston.
Houston had a runner on third base with two outs in the 10th inning when Jeremy Peña hit a fly ball to right field, but Cameron dove for the ball, stealing a hit and ending the inning.
“I immediately thought to go in and made a great catch,” Cameron said. “The ball flew away and I pounced and caught it. It was good to know that it kept us in the game and helped us win.”
Jacob Wilson’s sacrifice bunt sent the automatic runner to third base at the start of the 10th inning before Abreu struck out the next two batters.
Altuve hit a two-out single against Scott Alexander in the ninth inning before Yordan Alvarez sent him to third base on a groundball single that rolled just past the diving second baseman Gelof. But Alexander struck out Tucker and the game went into overtime.
The Astros had a runner on first base and were down by one in the seventh inning when pinch-hitter Jon Singleton hit his first career triple off the wall in left-center field to cut the lead to 2-1. Pinch-runner Jason Heyward took over for him and scored when Altuve tied the game with a bloop single to shallow center field.
Oakland starter JP Sears allowed four hits and walked two in six scoreless innings.
Houston’s Spencer Arrighetti matched a season record by allowing seven hits and two runs in 6 2/3 innings, his first start since allowing nine runs – three earned – and just two outs in a 12-5 loss to the Reds.
Brent Rooker hit a one-out single in the first inning and advanced to third base on a single by JJ Bleday. The Athletics took the lead when Rooker scored on a sacrifice fly by Shea Langeliers.
Oakland extended the lead to 2-0 when Gelof sent the first pitch of the second inning onto the railroad tracks in top left field, hitting his 17th home run of the season.
Trainer room
Athletics: RHP Osvaldo Bido, who was scheduled to play Tuesday, was instead placed on the 15-day injured list retroactive to Sunday because he is dealing with tendinitis in his right wrist. … LHP Brady Basso and 1B/OF Ryan Noda were recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas and INF Tristan Gray was sent to Las Vegas. … OF Miguel Andujar underwent core surgery Tuesday by Dr. William Meyers at the Vincera Institute in Philadelphia. He will return to Oakland to begin rehabilitation.
Astros: OF Chas McCormick left the field in the middle of the fifth inning due to right wrist discomfort.
Next
Houston’s RHP Hunter Brown (11-7, 3.41 ERA) will face RHP Joey Estes (6-7, 4.46) when the series resumes Wednesday night.
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AP MLB: https://www.apnews.com/hub/MLB
