HOES' HR IN 18TH CAPS 'STROS COMEBACK
Houston Snaps 'L' Streak in 5:38 Marathon
HOUSTON, Apr. 25 (AP) - L.J. Hoes, who entered the game as a pinch runner in the
17th, hit a two-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the 18th inning as the
Houston Astros outlasted the Oakland Athletics 6-4 at Minute Maid Park in a wild
marathon that took five hours and 38 minutes to complete. The game had
been tied at two from the fourth inning on until both clubs scored a single run
in the 17th. The A's took the lead again in the top of the 18th only to
see the Astros rally to win in the bottom half. It was the third
consecutive extra inning affair for Oakland; the A's had won the previous two
contests, including a 9-5 12-inning victory the day before that featured Jed
Lowrie's grand slam in the final frame.
This one appeared destined to be another high-scoring game. The A's took
the lead in the top of the first when Coco Crisp drew a lead-off walk and scored
on John Jaso's double. Oakland upped the advantage to 2-0 in the third
when Lowrie tripled with one out and scored on Josh Donaldson's base hit.
Houston cut the deficit to 2-1 in the bottom of the third on Jonathan Villar's
lead-off homer off A's starter Jesse Chavez and tied the game in the fourth when
Chris Carter lined a pitch into the Crawford Boxes in left field for his sixth
homer of the year.
The score was still tied at two in the seventh when Anthony Bass replaced Astros
starter Brad Peacock on the mound and yielded a lead-off double to Eric Sogard.
Crisp flied to deep left-center, allowing Sogard to advance to third, but Bass
got John Jaso to tap back to the mound for the second out and Lowrie to fly to
center to end the threat.
Reddick doubled to lead off the 12th against Paul Clemens but the Houston
reliever retired the next three batters without incident.
Villar doubled off Sean Doolittle to open the bottom of the 12th and Jose Altuve
sacrificed the runner to third. Oakland brought the infield in and
Doolittle induced Dexter Fowler to ground to short, with Villar holding, for the
second out. Jason Castro continued his miserable day at the plate by
striking out--something he did five times in this game--to end the threat.
The A's missed a great chance to take the lead in the 15th. Clemens was
working his fifth inning of relief and walked Sogard to open the frame.
Sogard stole second, but Crisp's attempt to sacrifice the runner to third was
foiled when Castro scooped up his bunt and gunned Sogard down at third for a
fielder's choice. Undaunted, Crisp stole second and Clemens, clearly
exhausted, walked Jaso to put runners on first and second with one out.
Astros manager Bo Williams brought Jerome Williams into the game and he retired
Lowrie on a deep fly to center, which allowed Crisp to take third, before
inducing Donaldson to ground into a fielder's choice to end the inning.
After an uneventful 16th inning, Williams walked Daric Barton to start the top
of the 17th. Craig Gentry replaced Barton at first and advanced to second
on Sogard's sacrifice. Crisp then singled to left, scoring the speedy
Gentry to give the A's the lead. It was the first run for either club
since the bottom of the fourth, but it wouldn't be the last.
Williams got out of the inning without further damage and Carter drew a lead-off
walk from Drew Pomeranz, who had come on for Oakland back in the 14th.
Hoes came on to run for Carter but it appeared moot as Matt Dominguez rolled
into a double play, wiping the bases clean with two outs. That's when the
controversy began. Villar worked ahead in the count 3-1 and then lined a
fastball down the line for an apparent home run. But as Villar was
rounding the bases to the cheers of the few thousand fans remaining of the
21,881 who had once been in attendance, the umpires huddled near third
base. It was unclear if the ball was fair, but after a few moments--with
Villar stopped near second base--crew chief Larry Vanover emerged and circled
his finger over his head indicating a home run, tying the game. Gentry,
who had stayed in the game to play left field protested vigorously but the call
stood.
In the top of the 18th Donaldson led off the inning by crushing a 1-2 mistake
from Williams onto the train track high above the left field facade for a 4-3
A's lead. One out later, Alberto Callaspo doubled into the right field
corner, but Williams stranded him to keep the deficit at one run.
Pomeranz retired George Springer on a ground ball to open the bottom of the
inning but then walked Jesus Guzman who promptly stole second base. Marwin
Gonzalez followed by looping a base hit to center. Crisp fired to the
plate in an attempt to throw out Guzman, but the throw was late and Gonzalez
took second base on the play. That brought Hoes to the plate. He
worked ahead in the count 2-0 and then drove the next pitch into the second row
of the Crawford Boxes for his first home run of the season and an improbable
Astros victory.
The win snapped Houston's six-game losing streak and Oakland's three-game
winning streak. The A's have now played seven extra inning games this
season, and their record in such contests slips to 5-2.
4/25/2014, Oak14-Hou14, Minute Maid Park 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 2014 Athletics 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2014 Astros 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 13 14 15 16 17 18 R H E LOB DP 2014 Athletics 0 0 0 0 1 1 4 11 0 13 3 2014 Astros 0 0 0 0 1 3 6 12 0 12 1 Athletics AB R H BI AVG Astros AB R H BI AVG Crisp cf 7 1 2 1 .321 Altuve 2b 6 0 2 0 .400 Jaso c 7 0 1 1 .333 Fowler cf 6 0 1 0 .237 Lowrie ss 8 1 1 0 .204 Castro,J c 8 0 0 0 .141 Donaldson 3b 7 1 2 2 .295 Springer rf 7 0 1 0 .179 Moss lf 8 0 0 0 .189 Krauss 1b 2 0 0 0 .189 Callaspo dh 8 0 1 0 .203 Guzman ph 4 1 0 0 .256 Reddick rf 7 0 3 0 .286 Presley lf 2 0 0 0 .218 Barton 1b 6 0 0 0 .179 Gonzalez,Ma ph 5 1 1 1 .143 Gentry pr 1 1 0 0 .208 Carter dh 5 1 1 1 .177 Sogard 2b 4 0 1 0 .260 Hoes pr 1 1 1 2 .167 63 4 11 4 Dominguez,M 3b 7 0 1 0 .261 Villar ss 7 2 4 2 .224 60 6 12 6 Athletics INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Chavez,J 5.1 6 2 2 2 6 101 64 2.25 Otero 1.2 0 0 0 0 0 10 5 3.86 Abad 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 15 11 0.00 Gregerson 2.0 1 0 0 1 3 31 22 1.54 Cook 1.0 0 0 0 2 2 22 9 0.00 Doolittle 2.0 1 0 0 0 3 25 17 0.96 Pomeranz L 0-1 4.1 3 4 4 4 4 86 44 5.17 17.1 12 6 6 9 19 290 172 Astros INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Peacock 6.0 5 2 2 3 5 95 59 7.90 Bass 2.0 1 0 0 0 0 20 16 1.64 Cisnero 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 11 6 0.00 Qualls 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 16 12 12.79 Clemens 4.1 1 0 0 3 4 68 38 7.30 Williams,Je W 1-0 3.2 3 2 2 1 1 44 26 2.70 18.0 11 4 4 7 10 254 157 Oak: Gentry ran for Barton in the 17th Moss moved to 1b in the 17th Gentry moved to lf in the 17th Hou: Guzman batted for Krauss in the 8th Guzman moved to 1b in the 9th Gonzalez,Ma batted for Presley in the 9th Gonzalez,Ma moved to lf in the 10th Hoes ran for Carter in the 17th 2B-Jaso(3), Callaspo(3), Reddick(9), Sogard(3), Altuve(8), Dominguez,M(5), Villar(5). 3B-Lowrie(1). HR-Donaldson(5), Carter(6), Villar 2(6), Hoes(1). RBI-Crisp(11), Jaso(6), Donaldson 2(22), Carter(9), Villar 2(13), Gonzalez,Ma(1), Hoes 2(5). SB-Crisp(3), Sogard(2), Altuve 2(7), Fowler(2), Springer(1), Guzman(1). K-Jaso 2, Lowrie, Donaldson, Moss 3, Reddick, Barton 2, Altuve, Castro,J 5, Springer 3, Krauss, Carter 2, Dominguez,M, Villar, Guzman 4, Gonzalez,Ma. BB-Crisp, Jaso, Donaldson, Reddick, Barton, Sogard 2, Altuve, Fowler 2, Springer, Krauss, Presley, Carter 2, Guzman. SH-Sogard, Altuve. WP-Chavez,J. GWRBI: Hoes Temperature: 84, Sky: clear, Wind: in from center at 14 MPH. Attendance: 21,881 Game Time: 5:38