HOUSTON (AP) — Hunter Brown and the Houston Astros held Oakland hitless until Ryan Noda’s one-out single in the ninth inning of a 6-2 victory on Wednesday night that sent the Athletics to first consecutive 100-loss seasons since the 1960s.
Brown pitched six innings, Rafael Montero, Héctor Neris and Bryan Abreu followed with perfect innings each as AL West-leading Houston retired 11 straight batters.
Ryan Pressly retired Tony Kemp on a grounder leading off the ninth, then walked Zach Gelof. Nola grounded a changeup past Pressly and into center field for a single.
Seth Brown’s single and Shea Langeliers’ sacrifice fly drove in runs before Pressly finished the two-hitter by throwing a called third strike past Brent Rooker.
Oakland was held to two hits or fewer for the eighth time.
Yordan Alvarez hit a three-run homer and Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker had solo shots for the Astros, who maintained a one-game lead over second place Texas, with Seattle is another half-game back. Tucker’s home run was the 100th of his big league career.
Brown (11-11) struck out seven in five innings, walked two and hit a batter, throwing 78 pitches. He had allowed 11 runs over his last two starts spanning 8 1/3 innings.
The A’s had not lost 100 games in back-to-back seasons since 1964-65 in Kansas City. The A’s joined their Kansas City replacement, the Royals, as 100-game losers this season.
Paul Blackburn (4-5) allowed four runs, four hits and three walks in three innings, dropping to 0-5 with a 9.74 ERA in eight appearances against the Astros.
Alvarez and Bregman homered in a four-run third and Tucker went deep in the seventh against Easton Lucas. Yainer Diaz had an RBI double in the fifth.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Astros: RHP Ryne Stanek (right ankle sprain) threw a bullpen session.
UP NEXT
Athletics: LHP Sean Newcomb (1-0, 0.75 ERA) is scheduled to start Friday in the first of a three game series against the Padres at home. Newcomb will be making his seventh appearance and second start with the A’s after begin acquired from the Giants on Aug. 21.
Astros: RHP Cristian Javier (9-3, 4.78 ERA) is scheduled to start Friday against the Royals in the first game of a three-game series in Kansas City. Javier has allowed at least three runs in each of his last five starts.
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