Saturday, September 06, 2014
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Carter's homer helps Astros beat A's

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[September 06, 2014]  OAKLAND, Calif. -- The Houston Astros trailed the Oakland A's 3-2 Friday night when designated hitter Chris Carter came to the plate against his former team in the top of the seventh inning with two outs and Jose Altuve on first base.

Carter fell behind 0-2 against A's right-hander Jeff Samardzija but battled back to a full count then stayed alive, barely fouling off a 97-mph fastball.

Seconds later, Samardzija threw Carter another 97-mph fastball, and Carter launched this one into the left-center-field seats for his 36th home run of the season, lifting the Astros to a 4-3 victory at the O.co Coliseum.

"It's nice to get wins against them," said Carter, who was traded by the A's to Houston after the 2012 season as part of a deal for shortstop Jed Lowrie. "It's just good to beat them. It's good for the team."

The Astros won their fifth straight game while the A's lost for the third straight time, falling six games behind the Los Angeles Angels in the American League West. Oakland owns the AL's top wild-card spot, but the Seattle Mariners now hold the second spot, just two games back. The Detroit Tigers are only 2 1/2 games behind Oakland in the wild-card race.

"We're out here playing our butts off," Samardzija said. "We understand what's at stake and where we're at and how things are going. We're trying to find that happy zone of not trying to press too hard and have fun, but also understanding that we need to do things a little differently."

Carter moved into a tie with Miami's Giancarlo Stanford for second place in the major leagues in home runs, one behind Baltimore's Nelson Cruz. Carter, who hit two home runs Wednesday in Houston's 4-1 victory against the Angels, has 23 homer since the start of July.

When Carter took Samardzija deep, Astros right-hander Brett Oberholtzer wasn't surprised.

"I actually visualized him hitting a home run," said Oberholtzer (5-10), who allowed three runs on seven hits over 6 1/3 innings, snapping his three-game losing streak. "That pitch, I swear, and it was great. I was the first one up, hooting and hollering."

The Astros got a solo home run in the third inning from rookie first baseman Jon Singleton. Second baseman Altuve went 2-for-4, scored twice, stole his American-League-leading 51st base and extended his hitting streak to a career-high-tying 12 games. Carter went 2-for-4 and drove in three runs, giving him 85 RBIs for the season.

Carter's home run Friday was his third against Samardzija this season and seventh against the A's, and it helped Astros interim manager Tom Lawless remain undefeated in three games since replacing the fired Bo Porter.

"I'm going to have a heart attack pretty soon and have no hair or gray hair, but it is fun," Lawless said.

Samardzija (4-5) gave up four runs on six hits over seven innings. He struck out nine and didn't walk a batter, but Carter and Singleton made him pay for leaving two fastballs up and over the plate.

"His last three times out have been as good of stuff as we've seen," A's manager Bob Melvin said. "Unfortunately we just don't do enough offensively to give him enough (support)."

Astros reliever Jose Veras got the final two outs in the seventh inning, and Tony Sipp pitched two scoreless innings for his third save, striking out four and allowing no hits.

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The Astros took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third on Singleton's 13th home run of the season.

Oakland answered with three runs in the third. Second baseman Alberto Callaspo led off with an infield single -- a one-hopper that hit off of Oberholtzer's glove and bounced away. Oberholtzer issued one-out walks to right fielder Craig Gentry and third baseman Josh Donaldson, loading the bases. Catcher Derek Norris blooped a single to right, driving in Callaspo, and Gentry raced home when hard-charging right fielder Jake Marisnick booted the ball for an error. Designated hitter Adam Dunn increased the A's lead to 3-1 with an RBI single.

The A's loaded the bases with no outs in the fourth, but Oberholtzer pitched his way out of the jam, getting Gentry and Donaldson to hit back-to-back ground balls to third baseman Matt Dominguez. Dominguez threw home for a force on Gentry's grounder then turned Donaldson's into a home-to-first double play.

"I think that was the point in the game where it was going to make or break us," Oberlholtzer said. "We were able to escape. That was huge."

Houston cut Oakland's lead to 3-2 with a run in the fourth inning. Altuve lined a leadoff single, stole second base and scored on Carter's single.

"It's always exciting to play here," Carter said. "A place I first came up."

NOTES: A's C Stephen Vogt (sprained left ankle) will miss the entire three-game series against Houston and possibly longer. Vogt was hurt Wednesday while sliding against Seattle. "It's a sprain, so you won't see him doing any baseball activity this series," A's manager Bob Melvin said. ... Oakland CF Coco Crisp (neck strain) returned to the lineup after missing five games. ... Astros rookie RHP Nick Tropeano, who was called up Tuesday from Triple-A Oklahoma City to the major leagues for the first time, will make his first big-league start Wednesday in the series finale at Seattle. The Astros will use a six-man rotation for the remainder of the season, interim manager Tom Lawless said. ... Astros CF George Springer (strained left quadriceps) has been on the disabled list since July 20, but Lawless hasn't given up hope of having him in the lineup again this season. "I told him today there's a possibility that maybe you play the last six games," Lawless said.

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