Kade Morris’ first major league start got away from him early, and the Athletics never recovered.
Houston tagged Morris for three homers and nine runs, and the A’s dropped their second straight game to the Astros, 13-2, on Saturday at Daikin Park. As a result, the Athletics fell to 30-34 and remained third in the AL West.
Rough debut
Morris got his first career strikeout in the first inning, but Houston had already grabbed the lead on Isaac Paredes’ sacrifice fly.
Then the second inning broke open. LaMonte Wade Jr. led off with his first homer as an Astro, and Yordan Alvarez later hit a grand slam to make it 6-0.
Jose Altuve opened the third with another homer. Houston added six more runs in the fifth after Morris allowed two baserunners and José Suarez could not stop the inning.
Astros pile on
Morris took the loss in his debut. He allowed nine runs on nine hits over four innings, with three walks and four strikeouts.
Suarez followed and allowed four runs in one inning. Elvis Alvarado gave the A’s two scoreless innings, and Carlos Cortes worked a scoreless eighth in a position-player pitching appearance.
A’s miss their chance
The Athletics scored their only runs in the third.
Nick Kurtz walked, Brent Rooker singled and Tyler Soderstrom drove in Kurtz with a two-out single. Then Henry Bolte was hit by a pitch, and Zack Gelof walked to force in Rooker.
However, Jeff McNeil struck out to leave the bases loaded. The A’s finished 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position and left 10 on base.
Numbers that mattered
Cortes went 2-for-5 and also threw out Wade at third in the third inning. Soderstrom and Gelof drove in the two runs, while Rooker scored for the second straight game.
Houston finished with 14 hits. Alvarez drove in four runs, Wade added three RBIs, and Peña had a two-run double during the fifth-inning surge.
Up next
The A’s try to avoid the sweep Sunday in Houston.
Gage Jump is scheduled to start for the Athletics. He enters 1-1 with a 3.75 ERA and 10 strikeouts. Houston is set to counter with Mike Burrows, who is 3-7 with a 5.66 ERA and 57 strikeouts.
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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.
