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Jake Odorizzi entered Monday with a 2.31 ERA in his last seven starts. But as the right-hander found success against under-.500 teams as of late, Odorizzi caught trouble with the Oakland A's.
The 32-year-old righty worked three one-run innings, surrendering his only base runner on a solo-shot to Tony Kemp in the third inning. The former Houston Astros utility man matched Jeremy Peña's home run from the first inning for an early tie in the contest.
But Oakland's order followed Kemp and jumped all over Odorizzi the second time through. Ramón Laureano opened the fourth inning with a leadoff double before Chad Pinder walked two batters later.
With two on and one out, Elvis Andrus singled to left to score Laureano from third after advancing on two at-bats prior. Kemp continued his terror on his former club, clearing the bases with a double to center field to put the A's up 4-1.
The run parade didn't stop there. In the fourth inning Skye Bolt launched a two-run shot to blow the contest open after Kemp's two-bagger.
Nevertheless, Aledmys Díaz and Chas McCormick slapped back-to-back doubles in the next frame to cut the deficit to four.
Though sloppy pitching defined Odorizzi's outing, the A's did their best to keep the Astros within striking distance in the top half of the sixth inning. Peña came a couple feet short of his second home run of the contest with a double off the wall in center field.
Yordan Álvarez joined Peña on base with a six-pitch walk. But then things unfolded for Domingo Acevedo — who relieved starter Adam Oller. Acevedo attempted a pickoff move to first base, but with no one covering the bag, the ball flew into foul territory, scoring Peña from second and advancing Álvarez to third.
On the next pitch, Yuli Gurriel was hit with a 91 mph four-seamer off his elbow to put runners at the corners with one out. Both runners advanced after an attempt to gun down a stealing Gurriel at second base got away, leading to an easy stroll home for Álvarez, putting Houston within two runs.
Odorizzi was given the hook in the sixth inning after being attended to by trainers for the second time in his outing. The righty left with a blister on his pitching hand, he said postgame, it shouldn't hinder him from his next start in five or six days.
Phil Maton tossed 1 2/3 innings of relief, striking out two batters and yielding one hit. The red-hot Ryne Stanek followed for the final out in the seventh which improved his scoreless inning streak to 27 1/3 innings — one out short of the Astros reliever record of 27 2/3 innings by Dave Smith in 1987.
Stanek entered for a full inning the eighth but surrendered a double to Sean Murphy who reached third on a wild pitch before scoring on an Andrus single two batters later, marking Stanek's first earned run since April.
Although he recorded an out in the eighth inning before Murphy scored, the streak was snapped at 27 1/3 innings, second-best in franchise history for a reliever.
Down 7-4, McCormick continued his hot July with a ninth-inning solo home run. J.J. Matijevic, who pinch hit for Korey Lee, singled with two outs before José Altuve joined him with a bunt single a batter later. Peña entered the box as the go-ahead run but struck out on four pitches — three of them sliders.
The Astros look for their sixth win since the All-Star break at 8:40 p.m. Tuesday in Oakland. Luis García toes the rubber with righty Frankie Montas.
More must-reads:
- Watch: Yankees slugger Aaron Judge homers for second straight game vs. Brewers
- Braves two-time All-Star addresses future with team
- The 'Active MLB strikeout leaders' quiz
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