Astros 3 - 4 Athletics
Final
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A's try to avoid losing more ground vs. Astros

Sep 6, 2014 - 12:40 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - Suddenly, the Houston Astros are playing the kind of baseball that the Oakland Athletics wish they could duplicate.

The Astros look to deal the A's a crushing fourth straight defeat on Saturday afternoon in the second contest of a three-game series.

Oakland has lost seven of its past eight games following last night's 4-3 setback, held to three runs or fewer in six of those contests. The A's now trail the AL West-leading Los Angeles Angels by a season-high six games and are only two games ahead of Seattle for the AL's first wild-card spot. Detroit is a half-game behind the Mariners.

"Everyone's going to keep playing here, we've got a lot of gamers in here, and a lot of baseball left to be played," said losing starter Jeff Samardzija on Oakland's website. "I think we're excited, we're going to keep going at it and get back to where we're comfortable."

Houston certainly seems comfortable right now, having ripped off five straight wins. The past three have come under interim manager Tom Lawless, who replaced a fired Bo Porter.

Chris Carter hit a two-run homer and drove in three runs against his former team last night, while Jose Altuve had two hits and scored twice. Jon Singleton added a solo homer to Houston's win.

Carter cracked his 36th homer of the season, second in the American League, while Altuve matched a career high with a hit in a 12th straight game. He leads all of baseball with a .341 average.

"It's a lot of fun," Lawless said on Houston's website. "These kids are great, and you know they play hard and that's all I ask of them. Just come play hard and have fun."

Scott Feldman had some fun last time out and looks to build off his first shutout of the season as he gets the call today for the Astros.

The veteran righty picked up his fourth victory in six starts last Saturday with a 2-0 decision over Texas. He scattered three hits and a walk while striking out five in an efficient 115-pitch performance.

"I've been feeling better and better as the season's gone on, kind of just hope to keep that going the rest of the year," Feldman said following his second career shutout.

Feldman is 8-10 with a 4.09 earned run average and that includes an 0-2 mark and 4.66 ERA in three starts versus Oakland this year. He just lost to the A's at home on Aug. 25 as he gave up three runs over seven innings.

Like the A's as a whole, Scott Kazmir's excellent season has hit a bump in the road and the Oakland left-hander will try to get back on track today.

The good news for Kazmir is that he won't be facing the Angels, who battered the lefty for a total of 13 runs, 12 hits and six walks over a total of just 4 1/3 innings. The back-to-back losses dropped Kazmir to 14-7 with a 3.39 ERA on the season.

Last Sunday's outing was particularly bad as he gave up six runs on two hits and four walks while recording only four outs.

Kazmir is a solid 2-1 lifetime versus the Astros with a 3.16 ERA in six starts.

Oakland has won 10 of its 17 matchups with the Astros this season.






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