Astros rally after wild pitch on strikeout, beat Athletics

Evan Gattis hit an RBI single to cap a three-run rally in the eighth inning keyed by a wild pitch on a strikeout, leading the Houston Astros over the Oakland Athletics 4-3 Wednesday. Rasmus went on the DL on August 5 with a cyst in his right ear. He has a scar behind his upper right ear. Manaea will get extra time off after hurting his back in his last start Monday. “That’s exactly why you want him in the lineup”.

The Athletics (57-76) took advantage of a fielding error by Correa to scratch across three runs in the second off right-hander Mike Fiers. Now the Astros embark on a hard road trip to begin September that sees them play at the Rangers for three and then the Indians for four.

“I thought he had some good at-bats”, Melvin said. “It was his game”. Altuve, also 0-for-3 against Detwiler, followed with his triple to right-center field, scoring Bregman to tie the game at 3-3.

McHugh (9-10) allowed four hits and struck out five. He picked up his first career win in his last start, allowing four hits and three runs while striking out eight in six innings against St. Louis. He was dotting up, he was getting into good counts, he was throwing good pitches to get guys out.

Right-hander Kendall Graveman (10-8, 3.97 ERA) will start for the Athletics on Tuesday looking to maintain his streak of exceptional appearances. Against the Astros, he allowed an RBI double to Correa that scored Bregman with one out in the fourth inning but was otherwise untouchable.

The Astros extended their lead in the bottom half of the inning and were able to complete the win without using right-handers Will Harris and Ken Giles.

A’s starter Ross Detwiler gave up three hits and left after the seventh with a 3-1 lead. He has allowed just one run over his last 15 2/3 innings.

Houston Astros’ George Springer watches his triple in the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Oakland Athletics, Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2016, in Houston.

“This is a guy that we felt like when we made the trade (with the Blue Jays on November 28, 2014) had a high ceiling”, Athletics manager Bob Melvin said. They began the day two games behind Baltimore for the second slot. “And that spot, highest leverage, big spot, we needed him to come in”. “He’s been on the center stage, has been one of the best players on his team every team he’s been on so he knows what it’s going to take and this is fulfilling a dream of his so he’s not going to be frivolous with his body”.

After trading Crisp to Cleveland earlier in the day, the A’s called up Joey Wendle from Triple-A. The exchange has been agreed to by both teams, said the person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the trade has to be approved by Major League Baseball.

The trade would have to be official by Wednesday for Crisp to be eligible for the postseason. In 14 games against Houston this season, Vogt is hitting.400 with eight doubles, a triple and a home run. He made it just as Springer crossed the plate with the second Astros’ run.

Sean Manaea left in the fourth inning with another injury, and things went downhill after that for the Oakland Athletics. To make room on the roster, INF Arismendy Alcantara was optioned to Class A Stockton. He had scuffled through his previous three starts, surrendering 14 earned runs over 14 innings while taking the loss each time.