OAKLAND, Calif. _ The kids did all right, but they didn't get much help from the bullpen Monday as the Oakland A's opened their final homestand of the season with a 4-2 loss after leading 2-1 heading into the eighth inning.
Relievers Daniel Coulombe and Zack Neal combined to give up a game-tying run in the eighth on a double by pinch-hitter Tyler White, then closer Ryan Madson surrendered a bases-loaded single to Marwin Gonzalez in the ninth as the Houston Astros sent the A's to their 84th loss in Game 150.
To that point, rookie starter Jharel Cotton had allowed just two base runners and one run in six innings and rookies Ryon Healy and Bruce Maxwell each homered for two of the A's three hits on the night.
The A's were coming off a 6-1 road trip, and before Monday's win, manager Bob Melvin was asked if he believed a surge this September, already at 9-7 heading into Monday, could translate into 2017.
"Absolutely," he said succinctly. "That's what we're striving for. I know the coaching staff has remained steadfast in their commitment to this. And now that we have some of those guys from development who have been in our system for a while and we get a chance to teach them, too, it's kind of invigorated us as a staff, too.
"All around it's a little bit different energy right now. We don't expect to win six out of seven on every road trip, but it sets a nice tone for the remaining of the season. The last couple of years have been disappointing for us. There are times you can get beat down a little bit. And coming today to the ball park, it was a real good feeling based on what we saw on this road trip. The clubhouse has a lot of energy right now."
Cotton gave up a second-inning solo homer to Evan Gattis, then put the clamps on the Houston offense en route to his third consecutive start in which he'd allowed no more than one earned run. In two of the three, including Monday, however, he didn't get a decision.
Cotton, part of the three-pitcher package acquired from the Los Angeles Dodgers in the trade of Josh Reddick and Rich Hill to Los Angeles at the trade deadline, threw 75 pitches and left with a 2-1 lead.
He's been able to work with a nice economy of pitches. And he's been able to muzzle some good bats against the Los Angeles Angels, the Kansas City Royals and now the Astros. The latter two teams were trying to claw their way into the playoffs when facing Cotton, and they couldn't figure out his 14-mph differential between the speed on his fastball (93 mph on average) and changeup (79).
In his six innings with the second-smallest crowd of the season, 10,072 watching, Cotton allowed just two base runners, the Gattis homer in the second and Carlos Correa's ground ball single to right in the fourth.
Meanwhile, Cotton was getting lots of help from other newcomers. Healy, who is going to have to get serious Rookie of the Year consideration with his 11 homers, 30 RBI and his .315/.351/.539 slash line, cranked out No. 11 one out into the second inning to tie the game off Houston starter Brad Peacock.
Two hitters later it was another rookie, Maxwell, who lit up the scoreboard. Maxwell, a catcher coming off a .333 average and a 5-0 A's record in games he started on the just-completed road trip, hit his first career homer, a shot to left that cleared the wall for a 2-1 lead. He also made two fine running catches of foul popups in front of the Astros dugouts to keep the peace.
But two rookie pitchers couldn't hold the lead in the eighth. Daniel Coulombe gave up a one-out single and Zach Neal a subsequent Tyler White double as the Astros tied it at 2-all in the top of the eighth.
Consecutive singles in the ninth from Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa and a bases-loading intentional walk set up Gonzalez for his first-pitch single up the middle to win it.
