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Donaldson homers twice as A's pound Astros

Apr 25, 2014 - 7:07 AM Houston, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - Josh Donaldson hit a pair of two-run homers, Scott Kazmir tossed six solid innings and the Oakland Athletics beat the Houston Astros, 10-1, in the opener of a four-game series.

Alberto Callaspo added a two-run homer for the Athletics, who snapped a three- game skid. Kazmir (3-0) allowed one run on five hits with seven strikeouts.

"Those things were tape-measure shots," Kazmir said of Donaldson's home runs. "It was fun to watch."

Chris Carter drove in the lone run for the Astros, who have lost two in a row. Brett Oberholtzer (0-4) got the start and gave up six runs on eight hits over 3 2/3 innings.

"They got to me early," Oberholtzer said of the A's. "They're a good team. They come out swinging the bat and they play together."

Oakland swept the Astros last weekend, and in 2013, they dominated Houston, winning 15 of 19 meetings between the two teams. The A's are now 24-5 against the Astros all-time.

Donaldson's first homer of the game came in the first inning. Jed Lowrie hit a one-out single and scored on Donaldson's homer to left.

The Astros got one run back in the bottom half of the frame. Dexter Fowler and Jason Castro singled and George Springer was hit by a pitch to load the bases with one out. After Jesus Guzman struck out looking, Carter walked to force in a run.

The Athletics tacked on another run in the second. Craig Gentry doubled down the left-field line and raced home on Coco Crisp's two-out single to center.

Oakland plated three more runs in the third to make it a 6-1 contest. Donaldson doubled, moved to third on a balk and scored on Derek Norris' single to center. Callaspo followed with a two-run homer to left.

In the fifth, Gentry led off with a single to left and moved to second on L.J. Hoes' fielding error. Brandon Moss followed with an RBI single to right-center field. Lowrie added an RBI double later in the inning.

Houston reliever Paul Clemens was ejected from the game after hitting Lowrie in the top of the seventh. Anthony Bass came in from the bullpen and gave up a homer to Donaldson.

Game Notes

It was the first career multi-homer game for Donaldson ... Kazmir is off to a 3-0 start for the first time in his career ... The A's started a 10-game road trip on Thursday, while the Astros got a nine-game homestand underway.