Astros 3 - 2 Athletics
Final/12
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HR by Hoes catapults Astros over A's

Jul 23, 2014 - 6:39 AM Oakland, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - L.J. Hoes' homer in the 12th inning boosted the Houston Astros to a 3-2 win over the Oakland Athletics in the opener of a three-game set on Tuesday.

Oakland threatened to end things in the 11th by putting two men on with two outs. Pinch-hitter John Jaso singled before Jed Lowrie walked and Houston opted for Darin Downs (2-1) to escape the jam. The left-handed specialist was called upon to take care of Brandon Moss, who grounded out softly on the first pitch he saw to end the inning.

Hoes then stepped in with one out in the 12th and slugged a homer off Fernando Abad (2-4) just over the yellow border above the out-of-town scoreboard in left.

"That's a big hit there," Astros manager Bo Porter said. "Our bullpen did a tremendous job of keeping it (tied). That's a gutsy team win."

Chad Qualls came on in the home half and set the A's down in order to record his 11th save of the season.

In the third, Marwin Gonzalez singled, then moved to third on Jose Altuve's single and subsequent throwing error by Josh Donaldson. Oakland starter Scott Kazmir got Enrique Hernandez to ground out, but Chris Carter tagged the lefty for a two-run single a batter later to stake the visitors to a 2-0 lead.

Although Donaldson aided in the Astros two-run third, he made amends in the home half with an RBI groundout. Craig Gentry singled to begin the inning, stole second and third around a Yoenis Cespedes walk and scored on Donaldson's groundout to cut the deficit in half.

Donaldson then doubled with one out in the sixth and scored later in the inning on Lowrie's sacrifice fly to right that tied the game.

"We were in a game, one big swing could have decided it for us," A's manager Bob Melvin said. "It's easy to look back and say we had a couple of opportunities in the game to score some runs. You never know how it plays out after that."

Game Notes

Hoes' home run was his first since May 13 ... Astros starter Brett Oberholtzer allowed two runs on six hits and two walks over seven innings ... Kazmir went seven frames, yielding two runs -- one earned -- on seven hits with six strikeouts. He has given up two or fewer runs in 11 of his last 13 outings ... Altuve snapped a string of 28 consecutive stolen bases, an Astros record, when he was caught stealing second with one out in the 10th inning ... Houston went 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position, while Oakland went 1-for-9 in those instances.






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