Athletics 1 - 6 Astros
Final
  for this game

Keuchel, Gattis lead Astros over A's

May 21, 2015 - 2:47 AM Houston, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - Dallas Keuchel tossed seven strong innings, and Evan Gattis' two-run home run proved vital in the Houston Astros' 6-1 win over the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday.

Keuchel (6-0) won his eighth consecutive decision dating back to 2014 and lowered his league-leading ERA to 1.67 when he yielded just one unearned run on six hits and two walks in seven innings with four strikeouts.

Chris Carter also drove in two runs, and George Springer had two hits to help the Astros win this rubber match.

Athletics starter Jesse Hahn (1-4) was solid aside from the Gattis homer, allowing three runs on five hits and two walks in six innings with six strikeouts. Houston was able to tack on insurance runs against reliever Dan Otero.

"There's a lot of frustration that builds up when you don't win," said Oakland manager Bob Melvin. "That's where we are as a team right now."

The Astros got on the board first in the third when Marwin Gonzalez led off with a double and scored on Jake Marisnick's single. In the sixth, Oakland tied the score when Billy Butler lumbered home from second when Carter muffed a ground ball hit by Mark Canha.

Hahn got two quick outs on his way to a shutdown inning before Springer singled to keep the inning alive. Gattis took advantage of the opportunity and crushed a towering home run to left field to give Houston a 3-1 lead.

"We can be pretty tough on the opponent once we break through with the big hit," said Astros manager A.J. Hinch.

After Oakland got on the board, Keuchel and three Astros relievers combined to only allow three batters to reach base over the final three innings.

In the eighth, Houston added three runs to put the game out of reach. The bases were loaded when Colby Rasmus' sacrifice fly scored Luis Valbuena. Carter then drove in a pair with a single to account for the final margin.

Sam Fuld led off the ninth with a walk, but Will Harris retired the next three batters to end the game.

Game Notes

Oakland is 14 games under .500 for the first time since the last game of the 2011 season when it finished 74-88 ... The A's fell to 1-13 in day games and 1-9 against left-handed starters ... Oakland has not won back-to-back games since April 13-14 against the Astros ... The Astros are 24-0 when scoring more than four runs ... Each team starts a four-game road series on Thursday with Houston heading to Detroit and the A's traveling to St. Petersburg to play the Rays.






Related News