The Athletics entered Friday night with five runs scored with two outs all season. By the end of their home opener, they had more than tripled that total.
The A’s rolled past the Astros 11-4 at Sutter Health Park behind a relentless two-out attack. Jeffrey Springs gave them six strong innings, Lawrence Butler hit his first homer of the season, Max Muncy went deep on the very next pitch, and the offense finally turned traffic into damage.
It was the A’s second win of the season and easily their most complete offensive performance so far.
Springs gives them room
Houston scratched out the first run in the third.
Jeremy Peña doubled, Yainer Diaz moved to third on a lineout, and Yordan Alvarez brought him home with a sacrifice fly. But by then, the A’s had already started answering.
Denzel Clarke opened the scoring in the second with a two-out RBI single after Muncy and Jeff McNeil singled. Then the Athletics grabbed control in the third.
Tyler Soderstrom walked. Brent Rooker followed with another walk. With two outs, Butler lined a single to left to score Soderstrom. Right after that, Muncy ripped a two-run double to center, bringing home Rooker and Butler for a 4-1 lead.
Springs took it from there. The left-hander allowed one run on two hits in 6.0 innings, walked one and struck out seven. He also recorded the 500th strikeout of his career during the outing.
The fourth inning blew it open
The floodgates opened in the fourth, and it started with two outs.
Clarke walked and Nick Kurtz followed with a walk. Shea Langeliers then grounded into a double play, but Clarke moved to third and kept the inning alive.
Next came the play Houston could not recover from. Tyler Soderstrom lifted a popup on the infield, and Astros catcher Yainer Diaz lost it, allowing Clarke to score and extending the inning. Soderstrom was credited with a single, and the A’s were back in business.
Brent Rooker walked. Jacob Wilson singled home a run. Then Butler crushed a three-run homer to left.
On the very next pitch, Muncy followed with a solo shot to left.
In a blink, a 5-1 game had become a 10-1 game, and every bit of the damage came with two outs.
Bats finally cash in
Butler finished 3-for-5 with four RBIs. Muncy went 3-for-4 with a double, a homer and three RBIs.
Soderstrom added two hits, two RBIs and two runs scored. Wilson had two hits and an RBI. Clarke scored once and drove in one from the bottom third of the order.
The A’s finished with 13 hits, went 6-for-13 with runners in scoring position and left seven on base. More importantly, they punished nearly every late opening they got.
Late noise did not matter
The bullpen made the score look closer than the game felt.
Michael Kelly allowed a run in the seventh after three walks, and J.T. Ginn gave up two more in the ninth. Still, the Astros never truly threatened after the fourth.
Houston finished with six hits and did not record a hit with a runner in scoring position, going 0-for-4. The Astros scored on sacrifice flies, a bases-loaded walk and a late RBI double, but they never came close to matching the A’s barrage.
For one night, the Athletics did not have to scrape for offense. They got the big hit, then another one, then another one after that. After the way the season began, that kind of release mattered as much as the final score.
Up Next
The Athletics continue their opening homestand Saturday afternoon against the Astros at Sutter Health Park. Right-hander Luis Morales is expected to get the ball for the A’s, while Houston counters with right-hander Tomoyuki Imai.
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Dice City Sports editor Mark Hebert covers the Vegas Golden Knights, Las Vegas Raiders, Athletics, and UNLV baseball and softball. He has 24 years of journalism experience, is also a senior reporter at Exhibit City News, and previously covered the Dallas Stars and Texas Rangers. Follow him on X or connect on LinkedIn.
