Disastrous fourth inning sinks A’s as they drop series opener to Astros

OAKLAND — Through three innings, Ross Stripling flirted with a start to remember. Midway through the fourth, Stripling departed with a start to forget.

After retiring the first nine batters he faced on Friday night at the Coliseum, Stripling allowed six runs on eight hits and failed to complete the fourth inning as the A’s fell to the Astros, 6-3.

“It just kind of spiraled on him,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said.

Oakland (21-32), fresh off taking two of three from the Rockies, has lost all five games against Houston (23-28) this season, being swept at Minute Maid Park earlier this month.

Stripling cruised through the first three innings, needing just 29 pitches to retire every batter he faced the first time through the order. In the first inning, Stripling benefitted from the chilly conditions as Kyle Tucker’s deep drive to center field faded at the warning track. The fourth inning provided no such luck.

Jose Altuve led off the fourth with an infield single, forcing Stripling into the stretch for the first time. Tucker reached on an awkward check-swing single. Yordan Alvarez drove home Altuve with a double. Alex Bregman followed up with a two-run single. Jake Meyers provided the big blow three batters later, turning a hanging slider into a three-run homer that gave the Astros a 6-1 lead. Aside from the hanger to Meyers, Stripling believes he made quality pitches that just happened to miss gloves.

“They just found holes, and before you know it, there’s six runs on the board and that was the game,” Stripling said. “That was it from there. I feel like I’ve mostly given us a chance to stay in the ballgame, but there’s been a couple where I haven’t. Today was one of those for sure.”

Altuve, greeted by boos every time he stepped in the box, singled twice in the inning — the first ending Stripling’s bid at perfection, the second ending Stripling’s night. After allowing Altuve to reach for a second time, Stripling was pulled for Kyle Muller, who tossed four shutout innings of long relief.

Since tossing six shutout innings on May 1, Stripling has allowed 17 earned runs across 15 1/3 innings (9.98 ERA) in his last four starts. Stripling’s 5.82 ERA is currently the second-worst in the American League and third-worst in baseball among qualified pitchers. Stripling expressed frustration following the outing, assessing that he’s been pitching well but not seeing the results to match.

“I feel like my stuff is good. My command is good. If you go back and look through my career, this is as good as I’ve thrown the ball. We have a good plan,” Stripling said. “Things you think are going to even out in a way, but they haven’t so far. Frustrating in real time, for sure. We’ll go through it tomorrow and keep trying to move forward and put a plan together for whoever’s next.”

For Justin Verlander, those six runs were more than enough.

Making what was possibly his final start in Oakland, Verlander allowed two runs (one earned) across six innings with nine strikeouts, continuing his dominance at the Coliseum. In 20 career starts in Oakland (including postseason), Verlander owns a 2.35 ERA with 148 strikeouts across 137 2/3 innings.

“He’s just tough,” Kotsay said. “He’s a Hall of Fame pitcher. He knows his game plan and he executes it really well. He doesn’t make a ton of mistakes. The breaking ball was a really good pitch for him tonight. He played the fastball off his offspeed stuff tonight, and that made it challenging.”

Miguel Andujar, reinstated from the injured list on Friday afternoon, collected three hits and two RBIs in his Oakland debut, his first-inning RBI single being the second-hardest hit ball of his career (110.8 mph). JJ Bleday homered in a third consecutive game as he launched a solo shot in the fifth inning.

“It looks like he’s going to be an awesome guy we can plug in and get production from right away,” Stripling said. “His spring was unbelievable. It was certainly heartbreaking when we lost him going into the start of the season, but he put in the work and how he’s back and going to be a guy we rely on to produce for us.”