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Oakland A’s Game Thread: ALDS Game 2 vs. Houston Astros

Let’s tie up the series!

By Alex Hall
MLB: SEP 15 Athletics at Rockies Photo by Dustin Bradford/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

The Oakland A’s should have won Game 1 of their ALDS against the Houston Astros, but they threw it away. Or rather, they fumbled it away, as the key play was a fielding error, not an errant throw. The small-budget, no-name Astros unearned a 10-5 victory.

But this is a best-of-five series, so one win in the opener isn’t going to cut it. Oakland still has plenty of time to come back, just like they did in the best-of-3 against the Chicago White Sox last week, and they can begin that journey today in Game 2. The A’s are still the home team, at the neutral site of Dodger Stadium.

The green and gold turn to Sean Manaea for the start. The lefty is looking for redemption after getting roughed up by the Tampa Bay Rays in the Wild Card Game last year, in his first postseason experience. He responded with a nice 2020, in which he got better as the year went on and posted a 2.77 ERA in his final seven starts. In particular, he has been great at avoiding walks (only eight of them total, in 11 starts), helping himself by not issuing free baserunners to the opponent.

On the other side of the box score is Framber Valdez, also a lefty. He had a great game against the A’s in August, striking out nine batters over seven innings, though he was out-dueled by Frankie Montas. Valdez will have to contend with a couple of hot right-handed hitters in Oakland’s lineup, such as Khris Davis and Sean Murphy.

Click here to see the full rosters for both teams.

First pitch is 1:37 p.m., with the following options to watch or listen:

A’s lineup (home)

  1. SS Marcus Semien (R)
  2. 2B Tommy La Stella (L)
  3. 3B Chad Pinder (R)
  4. LF Mark Canha (R)
  5. DH Khris Davis (R)
  6. 1B Matt Olson (L)
  7. C Sean Murphy (R)
  8. CF Ramon Laureano (R)
  9. RF Stephen Piscotty (R)
  • Sean Manaea, LHP

Davis and Murphy move up against the lefty, after homering in Game 1. And Piscotty joins the party.

Astros lineup (away)

  1. CF George Springer (R)
  2. 2B Jose Altuve (R)
  3. DH Michael Brantley (L)
  4. 3B Alex Bregman (R)
  5. LF Kyle Tucker (L)
  6. SS Carlos Correa (R)
  7. 1B Yuli Gurriel (R)
  8. RF Josh Reddick (L)
  9. C Martin Maldonado (R)
  • Framber Valdez, LHP

Same names and order as yesterday, but with a few position switches.

Let’s Go Oakland!

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