Olson’s milestone homer wasted as A’s split double dip vs. Astros
Matt Olson hits his 100th career home run, but Oakland A's bullpen can't hold lead in loss to Houston Astros
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OAKLAND — The 100th home run of Matt Olson’s Major League career was a majestic one — a soaring, three-run shot that traveled 418 feet in the third inning before it landed in the second deck of the Coliseum’s right field seats.
Considering what happened in the later innings, it was hard for Olson to be enthusiastic.
“It’s a cool milestone,” Olson said, “but, that’s kind of it.”
The A’s blew a four-run lead and missed a chance to sweep their double-header with a 5-4 loss to the Houston Astros on Tuesday.
The Astros scored four runs in the fourth inning then loaded the bases in the top of the seventh. J.B. Wendelken then allowed a sacrifice fly to Yuli Gurriel, scoring George Springer from third base for the go-ahead run.
So the A’s, who won the first game of the double-header 4-2, remained 4 1/2 games ahead of the Astros for first place in the American League West. The two teams wrap up the five-game series with games Wednesday at 6:10 p.m. and Thursday at 12:40 p.m.
“It’s not a bad place,” A’s manager Bob Melvin said. “Obviously we would have liked to finish off the game today and won it. But I think we’ve still put ourselves in a good position. Still playing well with some guys down and getting some contributions from some other guys.”
Mike Minor, acquired by the A’s from the Texas Rangers on Aug. 31, had his shortest start of the season in his first start for Oakland. After allowing just one walk and one single in the first three innings, Minor allowed two singles, a walk and hit a batter in the fourth inning as the Astros cut the A’s lead to 4-1.
Matt Olson – Oakland Athletics (11) pic.twitter.com/nVI9udP2PS
— MLB HR Videos (@MLBHRVideos) September 9, 2020
Reliever Yusmeiro Petit didn’t fare much better in an uncharacteristic outing. Taking over for Minor, he allowed two walks and an infield single as the Astros tied the game 4-4.
Minor pitched one inning of relief for the A’s last Friday in their 7-0 loss to the San Diego Padres. But in seven previous starts this season, Minor had pitched at least five innings five times. His shortest start came Aug. 18 against the Padres when he lasted 3 2/3 innings in what was a 6-4 Rangers loss.
The A’s now have 20 games left. After finishing their five-game series with the Astros with games on Wednesday and Thursday, the A’s will play 11 of 14 games on the road as they hope to run down their first AL West title since 2013