MLB

Houston Astros at Athletics

· Major League Baseball
Houston Astros
85-74, 39-39 Away
Final
11 - 5
Athletics
75-84, 35-43 Home

Christian Walker has HR, 3 RBIs to back Framber Valdez's strong start as Astros beat A's 11-5

Houston Astros vs. Athletics: Game Highlights

Houston avoided a sweep and ended a seven-game losing streak to the Athletics and remained one game behind Detroit for the final AL wild card with the Tigers owning the tiebreaker. Detroit beat Cleveland 4-2 later Thursday.

Nick Kurtz homered twice and drove in the three runs for the Athletics. He hit a shot off Valdez in the sixth and a two-run shot against Enyel De Los Santos in the eighth. Kurtz's 35 home runs are the second-most by an A's rookie — trailing only Mark McGwire's 49 in 1987. He hit nine homers in 11 games against Houston, tied for fourth-most against the Astros in a single season.

Valdez (13-11) gave up a run and seven hits in seven innings, striking out 10 and walking two in his 31st start. He was 1-7 with a 6.80 ERA in his previous nine outings.

Victor Caratini had an RBI single and Walker a run-scoring fielder's choice in the first inning against J.T. Ginn for a 2-0 lead and Houston never looked back. Walker hit his 24th homer in the eighth to push the Astros' lead to 11-1.

Jose Altuve went 2 for 3 with two RBI and two runs scored, and Isaac Paredes had two hits and two RBI for the Astros

Ginn (4-7) allowed seven runs and six hits over 3 2/3 innings. He walked three and struck out four.

Key moment Valdez gave up a leadoff single to Shea Langeliers in the first and then struck out the next five batters to set the tone.

Key stat Langeliers went 4 for 4 for the A’s on Wednesday and singled his first three times up against Valdez before striking out in the seventh. He and JJ Bleday had back-to-back doubles leading off the ninth against Nick Hernandez before Bryan Abreu came in to close it out.

Up next Astros RHP Jason Alexander (4-2, 4.83 ERA) goes against Angels RHP Kyle Hendricks (8-10, 4.79) in the opener of a three-game series in Anaheim on Friday.

Athletics RHP Luis Morales (4-2, 3.07) faces Royals LHP Noah Cameron (9-7, 2.90) in the opener of a season-ending series at home on Friday.

How can I watch Houston Astros vs. Athletics?
  • TV Channel: Astros at Athletics 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.TV.
  • Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Scoring Summary

9th Inning Kurtz struck out swinging.
9th Inning Thomas grounded out to shortstop.
9th Inning Schuemann grounded out to third, Bleday scored.
9th Inning Muncy to second on wild pitch by Abreu, Bleday to third on wild pitch by Abreu.
9th Inning Abreu relieved Hernandez
9th Inning Muncy walked.

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/hou.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originHOU https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/ath.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originATH
1 Games Played 1
1 Team Games Played 1
1 Hit By Pitch 0
10 Ground Balls 14
10 Strikeouts 12
11 Runs Batted In 5
0 Sacrifice Hit 0
12 Hits 12
1 Stolen Bases 0
7 Walks 3
0 Catcher Interference 0
11 Runs 5
0 Ground Into Double Play 1
0 Sacrifice Flies 0
39 At Bats 39
1 Home Runs 2
0 Grand Slam Home Runs 0
18 Runners Left On Base 18
0 Triples 0
1 Game Winning RBIs 0
0 Intentional Walks 0
4 Doubles 2
19 Fly Balls 13
0 Caught Stealing 0
191 Pitches 132
0 Games Started 0
3 Pinch At Bats 0
1 Pinch Hits 0
0.0 Player Rating 0.0
1 Is Qualified 1
1 Is Qualified In Steals 0
19 Total Bases 20
47 Plate Appearances 42
162.0 Projected Home Runs 324.0
5 Extra Base Hits 4
8.7 Runs Created 6.7
.308 Batting Average .308
.333 Pinch Hit Average .000
.487 Slugging Percentage .513
.385 Secondary Average .282
.426 On Base Percentage .357
.913 OBP Pct + SLG Pct .870
0.5 Ground To Fly Ball Ratio 1.1
8.7 Runs Created Per 27 Outs 6.4
68.0 Batter Rating 42.0
39.0 At Bats Per Home Run 19.5
1.00 Stolen Base Percentage 0.00
4.06 Pitches Per Plate Appearance 3.14
.179 Isolated Power .205
0.70 Walk To Strikeout Ratio 0.25
.149 Walks Per Plate Appearance .071
.077 Secondary Average Minus Batting Average -.026
22.0 Runs Produced 10.0
1.0 Runs Ratio 1.0
0.6 Patience Ratio 0.6
0.4 Balls In Play Average 0.4
105.0 MLB Rating 92.0
0.0 Offensive Wins Above Replacement 0.0
0.0 Wins Above Replacement 0.0

Game Information

Venue: Sutter Health Park

Location: Sacramento, California
Attendance: 8,293 | Capacity:

2025 American League West Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Seattle - 72 L3 0.5555556 90
Houston 3 75 W2 0.537037 87
Texas 9 81 L2 0.5 81
Athletics 14 86 L2 0.4691358 76
Los Angeles 18 90 L2 0.44444445 72
Full Standings