|
 Doolittle took the mound in the top of the ninth inning, protecting
a 10-9 lead against the Houston Astros, and he retired three
consecutive hitters for his first save since Sept. 19, 2014, against
the Philadelphia Phillies.
"It was awesome," said Doolittle, who missed most of the season with
a strained left shoulder. "The adrenaline was definitely flowing. It
was weird. It was right up there with my debut and when I came off
the (disabled list) as far as the energy level and the atmosphere.
This time I did a better job of kind of harnessing that energy and
using it to help myself. Fortunately, I was able to have a quick
one."
Catcher Josh Phegley hit a two-run homer in the seventh inning,
while first baseman Mark Canha launched a solo shot in the first for
the A's.
The last-place A's, who trail first-place Houston by 16 games in the
American League West, snapped their five-game losing streak.
The Astros (75-63) fell to 27-39 away from Minute Maid Park, opening
a 10-game, 11-day road trip with their fourth consecutive loss at
the Coliseum.
"That's a difficult game to describe because we really played hard
till the end," Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. "So many twists and
turns in that game that could have gone either way, and it didn't go
our way."
Astros third baseman Jonathan Villar led off the seventh with a
pinch-hit home run, his second shot of season. Later in the inning,
shortstop Carlos Correa hit his 17th home run of the season, a
three-run blast.
Houston left fielder Jake Marisnick added a two-run shot in the
eighth, his ninth of the season. He went 2-for-3 and drove in three
runs.
"Everybody knows we have a power lineup from the leadoff guy to the
ninth hole," Correa said.
Phegley hit his ninth homer of the year. Canha, who hit his 13th,
went 2-for-4 with a walk and two RBIs.
Doolittle needed just two pitches to retire second baseman Jose
Altuve and Correa on popups. Then he struck out center fielder
Carlos Gomez, who took two fastballs for strikes before swinging and
missing a third.
"We stuck to all fastballs right there," Phegley said. "After the
first two pitches made two outs, I was kind of hoping Carlos came up
and tied the record with three pitches, three outs. But he took. We
were just going to ride it out. (Doolittle) was throwing harder and
harder it seemed like every pitch. His specialty is using that
fastball elevated. Worked like a charm."
The A's broke a 2-2 tie with six runs in the sixth, sending 11
batters to the plate, knocking right-hander Mike Fiers (2-1) out of
the game and forcing Houston to use three relievers to escape the
inning.
Fiers, who gave up four runs on five hits over five-plus innings,
issued back-to-back walks to open the inning, ending his day.
"Just bad command that sixth inning," Fiers said. "I put two guys on
and put our team in a bad situation. If I eliminate that, we
probably win that game."
Right-hander Josh Fields took over, and designated hitter Billy
Butler greeted him with a sharp single to left, loading the bases.
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Pinch hitter Coco Crisp launched a two-run double off the right
field fence -- his fourth straight pinch hit -- just missing a grand
slam but giving Oakland a 4-2 lead.
With one out, shortstop Marcus Semien walked, reloading the bases,
and center fielder Billy Burns grounded a two-run single to right
past a drawn-in infield, making it 6-2.
Canha lined an RBI single to right off Fields, and left-hander Joe
Thatcher walked right fielder Josh Reddick. Third baseman Danny
Valencia, facing right-hander Vince Velasquez, hit into a force
play, driving in Burns to give Oakland an 8-2 lead.
The Astros responded with four runs in the seventh as Villar
launched a pinch-hit, leadoff homer off left-hander Felix Doubront
and Correa crushed a three-run shot with two outs off reliever
Fernando Rodriguez. Doubront (3-1) gave up four runs on eight hits
over six-plus innings.
Oakland (59-79) extended its lead to 10-6 in the seventh on
Phegley's two-run blast off Velasquez, but Houston scored three
times in the eighth, making it 10-9. After taking advantage of an
A's error to score and unearned run, the Astros got a pinch-hit
single from Jed Lowrie. Marisnick then crushed a two-run shot to
left field off left-hander Drew Pomeranz.
The stage was set for Doolittle's first save since late last season.
"I was informed after the game it was almost a year," Doolittle
said. "In a way, it's felt a lot longer than that. There's a lot of
times this year where I wasn't really sure how or if or when I was
going to come back.
"I've really felt that every outing that I've had so far has been
progressively better and I felt progressively more comfortable, in a
better rhythm, gaining confidence in my shoulder. Today, for it to
culminate in a one-run game, going through the teeth of their order,
at home, it was a lot of fun."
NOTES: Oakland C Stephen Vogt was out of lineup Monday, one day
after being hit in the groin by a foul ball against Seattle and
going to the hospital. "Based on the ultrasound yesterday, nothing
is ruptured or fractured," A's manager Bob Melvin said. "There was a
lot of swelling so they're going to do another one today to make
sure." Vogt was released from the hospital. ... Astros RF George
Springer returned to the lineup Monday after getting a scheduled day
off Sunday. Springer was activated from the disabled list Friday
after missing 53 games with a fractured right wrist. He will start
all three games against Oakland, Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. ...
Astros 3B Jed Lowrie, a switch hitter who missed 82 games earlier
this season with a torn ligament in his right thumb, was out of the
starting lineup against A's LHP Felix Doubront. He singled as a
pinch hitter.
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