OAKLAND, Calif. — The Athletics can feel the Houston Astros breathing down their neck, and it could be that way for a good long while.
And after the A’s fell 8-1 Wednesday night before a crowd of 3,925 at the Coliseum, it could soon be the other way around.
With Zack Greinke keeping the A’s bats at bay, Houston (25-18) climbed within a half-game of the Athletics (26-18) in the American League West with the two teams finishing a three-game series and mini-homestand Wednesday.
Houston, which opened the season with a four-game sweep in Oakland, has a 6-3 advantage in the series.
Greinke (4-1) gave up four hits and one run in eight innings, equaling his longest outing of the season. He walked no one and struck out eight — twice as many as his high-water mark in 2021. Rarely in trouble, Greinke threw 89 pitches, 63 of them strikes. Kent Emanuel pitched the ninth inning for Houston.
Frankie Montas (5-3) was the loser for the A’s, throwing far too many pitches but managing to keep his team in the game through five innings.
Jose Altuve hit the first pitch of the game into the left field stands for a home run, his fifth of the season.
The Astros took charge with a two-out rally against reliever Deolis Guerra in the seventh, courtesy of a two-run double by Yuli Gurriel and a run-scoring single by Carlos Correa for a 5-1 lead.
A run-scoring single by Myles Straw and a two-run single by Gurriel against Adam Kolarek made it 8-1 in the eighth, removing all doubt.
Guerra was one out away from his second scoreless inning when he walked Alex Bregman, with Yordan Alvarez following with a single to right.
Then in an eight-pitch at-bat, Gurriel lofted a double over the outstretched glove of a leaping Chad Pinder against the fence in left, bringing home Bregman and Alvarez. Correa then greeted reliever Sergio Romo with a single to right center, scoring Gurriel.
Montas departed after five innings, victim of a bloated pitch count, giving up just the two first-inning runs. He gave up six hits, walked two and struck out six, and considering he was at 73 pitches through three innings, making it through five was an accomplishment.
The best two innings for Montas were the fourth and the fifth, where he faced just one batter over the minimum and had his best command of the night.
A run-scoring double into the left-field corner by Sean Murphy cut the A’s deficit in half against Greinke. Murphy’s hit brought home Pinder, who grounded a single to right with two out.
The A’s fell behind 2-0 for the seconds straight night in the top of the first inning on Altuve’s first-pitch home run into the left field seats and a flare to right by Correa that went for a run scoring single.
The Correa single wouldn’t have meant much had it not been for a walk to Bregman two betters earlier that preceded it. Bregman went to third on Gurriel’s single.
In all, it took Montas 31 pitches to get out of the inning.
ETCETERA
— Mark Canha snapped a 0-for-17 lifetime streak against Greinke with a sixth inning single. He advanced to second on an outfield error but was stranded there when Jed Lowrie struck out looking and Ramon Laureano grounded to third.
— Luis Barrera made his major league debut in the ninth inning, making two nice running catches in center field and striking out.
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