HOUSTON - Some losses go down tougher than others, and that's true for Bob Melvin whether it's April or whether it's August and his team is playing out the string.
The body language and demeanor said it all for the A's manager Saturday after a 3-0 loss to the Astros, in which Oakland didn't advance a single runner past second base.
Houston right-hander Collin McHugh brought a 4.88 ERA into the game over five starts since returning from a shoulder injury. He wound up celebrating his first victory of 2017 after six stellar innings.
"He threw the ball good, (but) I expected us to score some runs tonight," Melvin said.
The A's were done in by five ground-ball double plays, including a game-ending 5-4-3 job from Ryon Healy, which was reversed on replay review after Healy initially was called safe.
"Those things are killers," catcher Bruce Maxwell said. "It just didn't roll our way today."
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So the A's (53-70) were left to pick through the scraps of this one to find some silver linings, and there were a couple.
Kendall Graveman held Houston to two runs over six innings, and the damage off him came on a two-run single from Marwin Gonzalez that glanced off the glove of second baseman Jed Lowrie. It was the second strong outing in a row for Graveman, who's now got four starts under his belt since returning from his second stint on the disabled list this season for shoulder issues.
Most encouraging from his standpoint was he didn't really have his best stuff, yet still managed to limit an opponent that leads the majors in every significant offensive category, including runs, batting average and homers.
"I think it's the first one where I've been back when I had to kind of pitch and grind through," said Graveman (3-4). "I didn't have my best stuff. It's just one of those where you've got to get out there and compete."
The highlight of the game for the A's came when center fielder Boog Powell unleashed a strike to home plate that nailed Alex Bregman trying to score from second on Jose Altuve's single in the fifth.
Maxwell barely had to move his mitt to apply the tag, and count the A's catcher as the most surprised person in the ballpark that Powell even gave him a chance on the play.
"It caught me off guard," Maxwell admitted. "I haven't played with Powell in a long time. I didn't expect there to be that big of a play at home. He was fairly deep in the outfield as well."
Powell, a 24-year-old rookie who was acquired from Seattle for Yonder Alonso, said he's worked on his throwing in the minors in recent seasons.
"I didn't (have a good arm) back in the day," Powell said. "I'm definitely improving my arm strength. I pride myself on getting the ball out as quick as I can."
It's the kind of play that sticks in the memory bank as Powell tries to make his mark in the wide open battle to be the A's center fielder in 2018. His throw to ring up Bregman was at least one moment from Saturday night that gave Melvin reason to smile.
"He can play the outfield, no doubt about it," Melvin said. "It was a big play at the time, and it should give you a little momentum to go back out there and do a little better offensively."
