|
 Alfonso connected on his first career walk-off home run in the
bottom of the ninth inning off Pat Neshek to lift the Oakland
Athletics past the Houston Astros 7-4 on Friday night.
"Incredible. You don't feel anything," Alfonso said. "You're flying
around the bases, and, to be honest, you get goose bumps running
around and you just want to take it all in. A walk-off ... it's just
speechless."
Alfonso would not have gotten the chance to play hero for the A's
had it not been for a little bit of power and a lot of hustle in the
eighth.
That's when the A's tied the score. Marcus Semien homered off Ken
Giles and Jed Lowrie followed with a sacrifice fly after Billy Burns
singled, stole second and went to third on Erik Kratz's throwing
error.
Burns also hustled in the top of the ninth to erase Carlos Gomez
trying to stretch a double into a triple leading off.
Evan Gattis homered and drove in two runs and Mike Fiers pitched
seven strong innings, but the Astros could not hold on and were
denied their first back-to-back victories of the season. Tyler White
and Marwin Gonzalez also drove in runs.
 "What has been consistent is every mistake we make gets magnified,"
Astros manager A.J. Hinch said. "They all come back to haunt us."
Fiers threw a season-best seven innings, giving up two runs and
seven hits. He struck out five and did not walk a batter.
"Every pitch was working and we had a good game plan," Fiers said.
"It was big for me and it was big for the team."
Tony Sipp (0-1) took the loss.
Sean Manaea made his major-league debut for the A's, getting the
no-decision after giving up four runs and five hits in five innings.
Her walked four and struck out three.
"That was a really awesome way to get welcomed to the bigs," Manaea
said. "That was an unreal experience."
Ryan Madson (1-0), who pitched the ninth, earned the win. "How we
came back says a lot about our team and a lot about our bullpen,"
Alfonso said. "We played good defense and we battled. Just a good
team win; we needed that."
[to top of second column] |
Both teams used power sources to score in the early going with the
Astros taking a 1-0 lead on Gattis' first home run of the season
leading off the second.
Crisp responded with a two-run blast, his third of the year, in the
bottom half. Chris Coughlan singled with two outs just ahead of
Crisp.
Both teams have runners thrown out on the base paths and both teams
squandered scoring chances.
Manaea looked impressive, striking out three and walking three
through five.
Fiers gave up six hits, but was able to pitch around trouble when he
needed.
NOTES: A's RHP Chris Bassitt was placed on the 15-day disabled list
with a right elbow strain. A MRI was performed on the elbow, with
results to come. ... RHP Andrew Triggs was recalled from Triple-A
Nashville before the game. ... OF Matt McBride, who did not appear
in a game with the A's, was also sent down to Nashville. ... Oakland
OF Sam Fuld was placed on the 60-day disabled list. ... A's RHP
Jesse Hahn will be recalled from Nashville to make Saturday's start.
Manager Bob Melvin announced that LHP Rich Hill will start Sunday,
followed by RHP Kendall Graveman and RHP Sonny Gray. ... A's RHP
Henderson Alvarez makes a rehab start for Class A Stockton on Sunday
and is expected to throw 60 pitches or four innings. ... Astros OF
Carlos Gomez felt fine two days after leaving a game when he was hit
by a pitch on his right hand. ... Houston RHP Lance McCullers will
make a start Monday at extended spring training in Florida and then
throw a bullpen. If all goes well, he'll start a rehab assignment.
... Astros OF Evan Gattis has hit in three straight games and
Houston manager A.J. Hinch hopes it's the start of something good.
"If he gets hot, that would be a plus for us," Hinch said. "He hit
in the middle of the lineup for us last year."
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