HOUSTON - The A's experienced a welcome reversal of fortune Sunday in the place that's been their late-inning house of horrors.
Their bullpen salted away a 3-2 victory over the Astros in a game that had potential heartbreak written all over it.
Three times last season they lost in walk-off fashion at Minute Maid Park. On Sunday, they left the door cracked open by stranding a runner on third in both the seventh and eighth innings, missing out on a chance to add to their slim lead. But recently acquired Chris Hatcher registered a big strikeout of George Springer to end the 7th with the tying run at third. Then Blake Treinen recorded a six-out save to help Oakland avoid a sweep by the American League's winningest team.
It was a needed morale boost on a weekend in which the A's received stellar starting pitching but simply couldn't kick their offense into gear. They mustered just four runs total over the three-game series, but managed to secure a win over Houston for just the third time in 15 meetings this season. It was also just their fifth victory in their past 21 contests at Minute Maid Park.
A LONG DAY'S WORK: The hard-throwing Treinen, acquired from Washington as part of the Sean Doolittle/Ryan Madson trade, was nasty in finishing out the final two innings for his fourth save as an Athletic. With Santiago Casilla having struggled in the ninth, the A's are evaluating whether Treinen might be a long-term answer at closer. After posting a 5.73 ERA with the Nats this season, he entered Sunday with a 2.65 mark in 16 appearances with Oakland.
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POWELL PROVIDES A BOOST: Getting a start in the leadoff spot, center fielder Boog Powell went 3-for-4 with a walk and scored a run. His impact was felt most in the first. After leading the game off with a single, he came all the way around to score on a throwing error by Astros shortstop Alex Bregman. Marcus Semien circled all the way around the bases on the play after first baseman Marwin Gonzalez contributed his own throwing error on the same play.
COTTON RESPONDS: Jharel Cotton needed to deliver a strong outing, and the rookie did so against the majors' most potent offense. He went 6 2/3 innings and held Houston to two runs on four hits. Coming in, the right-hander had been lit up for an 8.06 ERA over his previous five starts.
MAXWELL RECOVERING: Dustin Garneau started behind the plate for the A's with Bruce Maxwell feeling the effects of a hard foul tip off his mask Saturday night. Maxwell said he had trouble sleeping throughout the night, and the A's weren't about to take chances given the concussion issues encountered by some of their catchers in the past. Josh Phegley and John Jaso are two who come to mind.
Maxwell typically would have been in there against a right-hander in Peacock.
"Our training staff has got as good a handle on these things as any training staff, based on the fact that we've had to deal with quite a few of them,"Melvin said. "They know the protocol really well. Based on past experiences with these things, we feel like it's the prudent thing to do."
IN RELATED NEWS …: A tie-in to Maxwell's status is the fact that Josh Phegley continues to come along well in his rehab assignment. Returning from a strained oblique, has played three games for Triple-A Nashville. The A's don't intend to rush Phegley back, but Melvin suggested that were Maxwell to miss any extended time, Phegley's timetable for return could be hastened.
