A’s play spoiler, ride six-run sixth inning to victory over Astros
Take a look around the league with Big League Stew’s daily wrap up. We’ll hit on all of the biggest moments from the day that you may have missed, while providing highlights, photos and interesting stats.
With their grip on the AL West loosening a bit over the last couple weeks, the Houston Astros could use a good trip out west to reestablish command. Things didn’t go quite as planned on Monday, however, as they dropped a 10-9 slugfest to the last-place Oakland A’s.
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Things appeared to be in Houston’s favor with red-hot Mike Fiers on the hill. Over his last four starts, Fiers had allowed just two earned runs over 27 innings. That stretch also included his first career no-hitter against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Fiers was nowhere near that effective on Monday. In five-plus innings, he allowed four runs on five hits while adding four walks. The Astros afternoon really started to unravel in the sixth when Fiers walked the first two batters. From there, three relievers combined to allow six runs as the A’s broke the previously tied game wide open.
As they’ve often done this season, the Astros offense proved resilient and kept battling. A Carlos Correa three-run home run cut the deficit to two in the seventh. After Oakland added two more to the lead, Houston came right back with three of their own in the eighth, but it wasn’t enough. In his return to the A’s closer role, Sean Doolitte shut them down in the ninth to end the game.
We’ve seen the A’s and Rangers battle for the division crown in recent seasons. Here, the A’s were the spoilers. Their victory opened the door for Texas to gain a game in the standings, and they walked right through with a 3-0 win in Seattle. The Astros lead is down to two games.
CUBS STAY HOT IN ST. LOUIS
Despite their remarkable season to date, the Chicago Cubs have next to no shot to make up 8 1/2 games to catch St. Louis in the NL Central. Unless, of course, they fare well in their remaining six games against the Cardinals.
They got off to a great start on Monday afternoon. Behind Dan Haren’s excellent outing and another explosive game from their offense, the Cubs cruised to a 9-0 victory at Busch Stadium
For Haren, it was easily his most effective outing since joining the Cubs at the trade deadline. He limited St. Louis to seven hits over seven scoreless innings to earn his second Cubs victory.
The Cubs offense went to work early, scoring eight runs in the first three frames. Dexter Fowler started the game with a solo home run. He turned right around in the second to double home two more. In the third, Chicago scored five, highlighted by Addison Russell’s three-run homer.
They never looked back from that point, but now they’ll look ahead to Tuesday in a better position. With the win, they moved to 7 1/2 games back of St. Louis. They also gained a full game on Pittsburgh, who lost 3-1 to Cincinnati and now are within two games of the wild card. Passing Pittsburgh would allow them to host the play-in game.
RED SOX DO THE YANKEES A FAVOR
In a rare occurrence, the Red Sox did the rival Yankees a big favor on Monday by taking down the Blue Jays 11-4 at Fenway Park.
The spoiler role isn’t one the Red Sox like to play, but they did it well, pummeling Mark Buehrle into his shortest outing of the season. Toronto’s veteran left-hander lasted just 3 1/3 innings, allowing five runs on nine hits while striking out zero. The Red Sox continued adding on, scoring an additional six against Toronto’s bullpen.
Jackie Bradley Jr. led the charge, collecting four hits and four RBIs in the win. He connected for his eighth home run and fell a triple shy of the cycle. One day after leaving early with calf tightness, David Ortiz returned to contribute a double and RBI. Mookie Betts had three hits, while rookie Travis Shaw added his eighth homer.
All of this offense came in support of Rick Porcello, who picked up his seventh win. And yes, it came in support of the Yankees, who with their 8-6 win over Baltimore moved back to within one-half game of the AL East lead.
BRAVES SNAP 12-GAME LOSING STREAK
The nightmare is over for the Atlanta Braves. With a 7-2 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies, their 12-game losing streak is over.
The victory was the first rookie infielder Hector Olivera had experienced at the major-league level since his call up on Sept. 1. He was the main contributor on offense, connecting for his first career home run while driving in four. He entered the game in a 2-for-15 slump.
Freddie Freeman started the scoring with a two-run homer in the first inning. Lead-off man Nick Markakis reached base three times and scored three runs.
On the pitching side, Williams Perez got the victory by tossing seven innings of two-run ball. It was his first victory in nine starts dating back to June 20.
Overall, the Braves had lost 19 of 20 going into Monday. On Tuesday, they can say they’re one of their last one.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
