OAKLAND -- The last thing the A’s probably wanted to see in the ninth inning Wednesday was Astros slugger
The Astros, who were 0-16 when trailing after eight innings entering Wednesday, improved to 4-2 on their road trip, which concludes with a three-game set starting Friday in Kansas City. Houston is 18-12 on the road and improved to a season-best 15 games over .500 (33-18).\n\n“If you’re going to be a championship team, you’ve got to have some come-from-behind wins,” manager Dusty Baker said. “I wish we hadn’t waited too late, but a win’s a win. The guys came through big time. Boy, what can I say? These guys didn’t quit.”
It appeared that the Astros wouldn’t need any kind of late-game heroics, what with the way
An RBI double down the left-field line from Elvis Andrus with two outs was Oakland’s first hit and tied the game, before Christian Bethancourt crushed the next pitch for a two-run homer -- his first homer in nearly six years -- to vault the A’s ahead, 3-1. Verlander admitted he felt deflated to lose the no-no and the lead.\n\n“\\[Andrus\\] sneaks the ball inside the third-base line and the guy from first happens to score because it was perfectly placed -- that’s just baseball,” he said. “It happens sometimes. But making a bad pitch and going from seven innings, one run, to seven innings, three runs, and putting our guys behind -- definitely deflating. It showed a lot of gumption for our guys to still post after that and have some quality at-bats and find a way.”
Verlander, who gave up six runs on 10 hits, including four homers, in six innings Friday in Seattle, set down 18 of the first 20 Oakland batters he faced. His slider, which he threw 1.9 mph faster than his season average, was terrific and generated eight whiffs from 16 swings. He later said he tinkered with his grip to get some consistency with the pitch.\n\n“We won, had a good game until really one pitch,” Verlander said. “Andrus’ hit doesn’t really bother me, but the homer subsequent to that is one I’d really like to have back. Just a hanging curveball up and away.\n\n“Turn the page. We won and a lot of positives to take away today, especially after my last start, and that’s what I’m going to focus on.”
The Astros loaded the bases with one out in the ninth on a pair of singles and a walk to