Astros 4 - 3 Athletics
Final
  for this game

Hammel tries to stay hot as A's wrap set with Astros

Sep 7, 2014 - 2:30 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - It appears as though Jason Hammel has gotten himself on track and he'll try to pitch the Oakland Athletics to a series victory on Sunday afternoon in the finale of a three-game set with the Houston Astros.

Hammel lost his first four starts with Oakland after being acquired from the Chicago Cubs, posting a 9.53 earned run average. However, he has gone 2-1 in his last five outings with a 2.40 ERA, giving up just a single run in each of his last two starts.

Hammel logged seven innings of three-hit ball in a no-decision over Houston on Aug. 26, leaving him 2-2 with a 3.15 ERA in seven lifetime meetings against the club with six starts.

Then, one day before his 32nd birthday, Hammel beat Seattle on Monday, again allowing one run and three hits, this time over eight innings of a victory.

The outing lowered his season ERA with Oakland to 4.98.

For Houston, Dallas Keuchel looks to secure his first win since July 30 despite the fact that he has logged four straight quality starts. Overall, he is 0-2 with a 3.21 ERA in his last six outings.

The left-hander has not factored into his last two outings, one versus Oakland and another last Sunday against Texas. He held the Rangers to a pair of runs over seven innings.

Keuchel, 10-9 with a 3.03 ERA this season, held Oakland to a pair of runs -- one earned -- over seven frames in the recent encounter and is 1-2 against the Athletics lifetime with a 3.71 ERA in eight games (6 starts).

The A's looked on their way to another loss on Saturday, but rallied for three runs in the ninth inning for a 4-3 victory.

Houston starter Scott Feldman was pulled with runners on the corners and one out in the ninth, ahead 3-1. Chad Qualls was summoned, only to give up a game- tying, two-run double to center from Josh Reddick and the winning hit from Jed Lowrie that allowed Reddick to score just ahead of the throw to the plate.

"This has been happening all year and I'm tired of it," Qualls said. "Four of my five losses are against them. Four of my five blown saves are against them. I'm over it."

Luke Gregerson (4-3) tossed a scoreless top of the ninth.

Coco Crisp added two hits and Brandon Moss knocked in the other run for the Athletics, who snapped a three-game losing streak and won for the second time in their last nine outings.

"It hasn't been a great feeling, we haven't looked like we had the fight that we normally do," Melvin said of the A's rough stretch. "Hopefully a game like this can spur something."

Jose Altuve collected a two-run double -- extending his hitting streak to 13 games in a row -- and Robbie Grossman added an RBI for the Astros, who saw their five-game win streak evaporate in the span of a few batters.

Oakland has won 11 of its 18 matchups with the Astros this season.






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