Oakland Athletics

In for John Hickey … Hard to say what was more thrilling to watch, Chris Young’s three-run blast that gave the A’s the ninth-inning lead Friday night against Houston or what Bob Melvin had to do to preserve it in the bottom of the ninth with closer Grant Balfour on the mound. With Jed Lowrie [...]

A.J. Griffin will try to improve his record against the AL West to 4-0 when he squares off against Lucas Harrell and the Houston Astros on Saturday evening.

Well, now that was fun. Probably not for the Astros, but since we are all A's fans, this was one for the ages. This game was an all-but-sure A's loss, if not for two great at-bats before a stunning, thrilling, beautiful three-run homerun in the top of the ninth inning that yanked a victory out of the jaws of defeat to give the A's their seventh consecutive win against the Astros, moved them three games above .500, and gave them their sixth win in their last seven games. No one was happier about today's win than the Young family and friends section of the ballpark, which exploded (as did we all) when Chris Young rocketed a homerun deep into the night to flip the game around. It was an amazing at-bat to cap off his success tonight. The game started out on a positive note, but storm clouds threatened. Despite scoring two in the first, the A's could have had so much more, and like the previous two games, we started to wonder if the missing runs would come back to haunt. Coco Crisp had a terrific at-bat to lead off the first inning and Young singled to put two runs on for Cespedes. He would single back up the middle to plate Crisp, and give the A's a 1-0 lead. Josh Donaldson was hit by a pitch to load the bases with no one out, but Derek Norris popped up as the first out. Luke Montz's grounder managed to get the job done, and brought home the A's second run. Nate Freiman walked to re-load the bases, but Adam Rosales struck out to end the inning, giving the A's a 2-0 lead, but leaving us wishing for more. Tommy Milone was excellent for the first four innings, even stranding a lead-off double in the second. The A's put together another threat in the fourth, as Rosales walked, and Sogard singled, but was thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a double. This left Rosales at third with two outs, instead of one. And then the wheels came flying off. In the fifth inning, Milone struck out the first two batters, and the proceeded to have the worst 30 second stretch of pitching ever. Matt Dominguez homered to cut the lead to 2-1, and a single, an infield single, and another single tied the game. Then J.D. Martinez hit a three run homerun, and just like that, the A's were down 5-2. Milone had a bad 5-batter stretch, but settled down and ended up throwing seven full innings, keeping the A's in the game long enough to come back. The A's only scored the two off Bedard, and pinch-hitter Seth Smith greeted his replacement with a homerun, closing the game to 5-3 in the sixth. All was quiet through the bottom of the eighth, as Pat Neshek allowed a two-out double, but nothing else, and the stage was set for the comeback. Jose Veras tried to close the game for the Astros, but it didn't really go his way. John Jaso, pinch-hitting for Adam Rosales (which would lead to Moss at third base and Donaldson at shortstop for the bottom of the ninth; hey, whatever works!), drew a lead-off walk, and after Sogard struck out swinging, Coco Crisp had another great at-bat to earn a walk of his own. And then, Chris Young, on a 1-1 count, to the delight of A's fans everywhere, but especially his own cheering section in the stadium, hit a game-winning, three-run homerun that was amazing. Grant Balfour wobbled slightly in the ninth, walking two with one out, but he settled down and got a strikeout and a ground-out to end the game, and lock down the A's victory. This is his 28th consecutive save, the second best streak in A's history. And the A's? They are 26-23, have won 3 of 4 on the Texas road trip, and with the win, keep pace with Texas (who will likely win tonight) and the Angels, who won earlier. The A's will try to win the series tomorrow afternoon at 4:15PM, Griffin vs. Harrell.

Chris Young, a Houston native, added to an already solid track record in his home city in a big way on Friday night, hitting a go-ahead three-run homer in the ninth off Jose Veras that pushed the A's to a 6-5 victory over the Astros.

Bruce Thorson – USA Today Sports Images Though it’s still quite early in the 2013 MLB season, the Oakland Athletics are fighting just to stay within striking distance in the American League West. Though they have a solid 25-23 record, they are 5.5 games back of the Texas Rangers, who are shaping up to be one of the best teams in the entire league. The A’s are trying to stay close and maybe make something happen. The top of their starting rotation has been solid for them over the start of the season and has helped them find the success that they have had. Tommy Milone, A.J. Griffin and Bartolo Colon all have WHIPs below 1.25 and Milone and Griffin have sub-3.60 ERAs to go along with that. However, it’s the bottom of their rotation that has been a bit shaky. Dan Straily and Brett Anderson have made spot starts because of inconsistency and injuries to one or the other this season and have been up-and-down. Jarrod Parker is the more interesting case, though, as he’s pitched 10 starts this season and has been inconsistent. Overall, he has just a 2-6 record with a 5.76 ERA and 1.61 WHIP. He hasn’t exactly looked like the pitcher that they were hoping for him to be this season. He’s also currently dealing with a minor neck issue. If Parker’s inconsistency continues and he’s not helping the A’s grab wins or if he has to make a trip to the DL with his injury, the A’s are likely to and should bring up Sonny Gray, their top pitching prospect and the 18th overall pick in the 2011 MLB Draft. Gray is currently in Triple-A where he has made eight starts this season. At that level he has a 4-2 record with a 2.49 ERA and 1.28 WHIP. Moreover, he also has a nice 8.7 strikeouts per nine innings rate and 2.65 FIP. The only real concern about him would be his 3.38 walks per nine innings rate, but it’s still not a make-or-break concern. There’s reason to be excited about what Gray can do if he’s called up to the majors. He’s just 23 years old and, by most accounts, already has the look of a big league pitcher. Gray being called up would also inject some life into the A’s and their rotation and may give them a little bit of a bump that would close the gap between them and Texas. Gray needs to get the call up sooner rather than later. The worst case scenario would be that he struggles, but he could just got back down to the minors and work some more because he’s so young. That’s not a bad scenario at all, especially considering the chance that he’s already ready and really helps the A’s out. Cody Williams is a Senior Writer with Rant Sports. Follow Cody on Twitter @TheSizzle20 and like his Facebook page.

It's 2-0, A's, after a wonderful, yet maddening first inning. We're in the top of the fifth.

This game thread brought to you by a really terrible internet connection in the true beach house where I am holed up, bringing you tonight's A's/Astros game on vacation. That's the kind of dedication you're looking for and hopefully one that the A's reward. No one, and I mean no one, has been better so far against the Astros than the Oakland Athletics. The A's have started the season a perfect 6-0 against Houston, which helped bolster their strong start, and they will look for more wins as they are attempting a early-season comeback against the Texas Rangers. The A's, at 25 and 23, will throw Tommy Milone against Erik Bedard in search of their 26th win. Bo Porter is not concerned, however: "I think we were basically going through a tough stretch for our starting pitching at the time," Astros manager Bo Porter said. "I feel like our starters have done a much better job as we sit here today. They've played well against us. We've given them a couple of games by our inability to pitch to contact and allowed the counts to get real deep and the pitch count to get spiked up, but I feel like we're a much better ballclub than what they faced early in the year." The Astros have won 4 of their last 7, so maybe there is something to that. Unfortunately, as we all assumed, Lowrie is still out of the lineup tonight, despite reports that he might come back, so we are looking at back-to-back Rosales and Sogard again, this time following Freiman and Montz. Uh...so we really are giving Houston a fighting chance, aren't we? The A's need to score early, and often, and stop leaving men on base. Thanks so much in advance. What is everyone doing for the long weekend? Here are your lineups: 1. Coco Crisp (S) CF 2. Chris Young (R) RF 3. Yoenis Cespedes (R) LF 4. Josh Donaldson (R) 3B 5. Derek Norris (R) C 6. Luke Montz (R) DH 7. Nate Freiman (R) 1B 8. Adam Rosales (R) SS 9. Eric Sogard (L) 2B 1. Robbie Grossman (S) LF 2. Jose Altuve (R) 2B 3. J.D. Martinez (R) DH 4. Carlos Corporan (S) C 5. Chris Carter (R) 1B 6. Brandon Barnes (R) CF 7. Jimmy Paredes (S) RF 8. Matt Dominguez (R) 3B 9. Ronny Cedeno (R) SS LET'S GO OAK-LAND!

Following Thursday's off-day, when the A's decided to option infielder Hiro Nakajima to Triple-A Sacramento rather than call him up when his 20-day rehab assignment expired, manager Bob Melvin said the decision was largely based on the roster he already has.

In for John Hickey, who is somewhere moving a piano or a refrigerator right now … Made it to Houston by car from Arlington and somehow didn’t wind up in some Podunkville jail. For those contemplating that drive on a future Oakland swing through Texas, bring lots of good music. It’s a whole lotta nuttin’ out [...]

Back at the same park where he initially suffered a right wrist injury that ultimately put him on the disabled list May 8, A's outfielder Josh Reddick took more than 20 batting-practice swings in Houston on Friday and said he "felt great."