The Astros carried a 1-0 lead and a chance to put real pressure on the Rangers into Friday night at Sutter Health Park. By the end, Houston had a 6-5 loss to the A’s, a damaged bullpen inning and an AL West race still sitting on the edge of the season’s final weekend.
Houston and Texas remain tied atop the division at 79-81 with two days left, ensuring that no AL West club will finish above .500. Minnesota had handed the Rangers a 10-2 defeat earlier Friday, opening the door for the Astros to take control. They could not walk through it.
Quick facts
- The A’s beat Houston 6-5 after scoring six runs in the sixth inning.
- Houston and Texas are tied for first in the AL West at 79-81.
- The Astros hold the tiebreaker over the Rangers.
- Houston can clinch the division Saturday with a win over the A’s and a Texas loss at Minnesota.
- The Astros have dropped nine of 13, while the Rangers have lost five of eight.
Hunter Brown had kept Oakland off the board through five innings, and Christian Walker’s fourth-inning home run had given Houston the early advantage. Brown opened the sixth by allowing a Jeff McNeil single, then watched the inning unravel on a routine-looking ground ball.
Zack Gelof hit a grounder to shortstop Jeremy Peña, who threw to Jose Altuve at second for the force play. Altuve could not secure the ball, leaving the A’s with another chance to build the inning.
Left-hander Bennett Sousa entered and immediately yielded three straight singles on three pitches as Oakland moved ahead 3-1. AJ Blubaugh later gave up a two-run triple to Henry Bolte, and the Astros suddenly found themselves down four runs. The A’s posted six in all during the frame.
Oakland starter Jacob Lopez delivered a sharp turnaround after a rough recent stretch. He had surrendered 19 runs and five homers across 12 1/3 innings in his previous three outings, but he worked six innings Friday, allowing only two hits and Walker’s solo shot.
Cam Smith homered to left field in the seventh, extending the A’s lead to 6-2. Houston made one last push in the eighth, drawing within a run on Yordan Alvarez’s RBI single, Altuve’s sacrifice fly and a wild pitch.
The rally stopped there. Smith struck out with runners on second and third to end the inning, and Houston did not get another chance to erase the deficit.
The Astros still own a clean path to the division title because of their tiebreaker edge over Texas. A Saturday night win against Oakland, paired with another Rangers loss in Minnesota, would settle it. After Friday’s sixth inning, though, the clubhouse knows it left a chance on the field.
