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Astros hope Peacock can rebound vs. Athletics

Jul 23, 2014 - 2:49 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - Houston righty Brad Peacock drew the ire of manager Bo Porter his last time out. Now, he'll try to lead the Astros to a series win over the Oakland Athletics at O.co Coliseum.

Peacock faced only five batters on Sunday and recorded just one out before Porter yanked him. He surrendered a leadoff home run in that one and then allowed a walk, struck out a batter and hit a batter before getting pulled.

"I only went a third of an inning, but I'm feeling good now. I have had plenty of rest," Peacock said. "I've been feeling great in my bullpens and I'm ready to take it out to the game and try to redeem myself from last time."

Peacock has faced the A's five times and is 1-2 against them with a 4.21 ERA.

Oakland, meanwhile, will counter with righty Jesse Chavez, who has lost two of his last three starts. Chavez, though, hasn't pitched since losing to Seattle back on July 12. He gave up three runs and 10 hits in 5 2/3 innings of that one and fell to 7-6 on the year to go along with a 3.14 ERA.

"It was just one of those days where I fought myself mechanically," said Chavez, whose 114 1/3 innings this season are nearly double his career high of 67 1/3 innings.

Chavez has made 17 appearances versus the Astros, but just two have been starts. He has pitched to a 2.05 ERA against them without recording a decision.

Houston won its second straight game on Tuesday, as L.J. Hoes' homer in the 12th inning boosted it to a 3-2 win.

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," 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.

"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."

Oakland has won five of its eight matchups with the Astros this season.