HOUSTON - The A's pitching staff endured a rough series against Kansas City to finish out the last homestand.
Go figure that Oakland arrived in Houston to start a six-game road trip, and it's the offense that has been non-existant. The Astros blanked the A's 3-0 on Saturday at Minute Maid Park, negating a strong effort from right-hander Kendall Graveman.
Through 18 innings of this series, the A's have advanced exactly one runner as far as third base. That came Friday night on Matt Joyce's eighth-inning homer, accounting for the only run scored by Oakland so far in Houston.
Getting runners on base wasn't really the tough part Saturday. Grounding into five double plays was what did them in offensively. It was fitting that the game ended on a replay overturn that gave the Astros' a 5-4-3 double play on Ryon Healy's grounder to end it. Healy originally was ruled safe.
GRAVEMAN ROUNDING INTO FORM: In his fourth start back from a shoulder injury, Graveman built on his previous outing when he beat the Baltimore Orioles. He went six innings Saturday and gave up two runs. The only damage off him came with the bases loaded in the fourth. Marwin Gonzalez hit a sharp grounder to the left of second baseman Jed Lowrie. The ball glanced off his glove, allowing two runners to score. It was ruled a two-run single, but it appeared a makable play that should have resulted in at least one out for Graveman.
BREGMAN STRIKES AGAIN: Astros third baseman homered for the second time in two nights. His solo shot off Ryan Dull in the eighth added some breathing room for Houston.
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FAMILIAR FACE: Former Athletic Tyler Clippard, who the Astros just recently acquired, finished out the ninth to close it out.
SHOWING OFF THE ARM: Houston had a chance to build on its two-run lead in the fifth, but A's center fielder Boog Powell made an on-the-money throw to the plate to nail Bregman, who tried to score from second on Jose Altuve's single. Powell got the ball to the plate on the fly, with catcher Bruce Maxwell simply having to apply the tag. The Astros challenged the call but it stood upon replay review.
SHOWING OFF THE ARM, PART II: Khris Davis' name doesn't often appear under this subhead, but the A's left fielder nearly threw out Astros speedster George Springer as he legged out a double in the third. Actually, Davis should have gotten the assist as the throw beat him to the bag. But Springer was safe on a nifty slide to avoid Jed Lowrie's tag. Davis fielded the liner off a ricochet from the left field wall, then made one of his strongest throws in an A's uniform. It's worth noting that since Davis wrote a story in The Players Tribune, detailing the mental battles he endures with his outfield throwing, his throws have actually appeared to be stronger.
