Altuve Injury Puts Damper on Houston Astros Loss

Mauricio Dubón came in from left field to replace Altuve at second base. If Altuve misses any amount of time at this point in the season, then the Houston Astros will feel his loss both at the plate and in the field.

Astros starter Hunter Brown (11-8) gave up five earned runs in 5 innings of work. He has been one of the Astros’ best starters over the past two or three months. Wednesday night, though, was not one of Brown’s better starts.

Oakland’s Kyle McCann smashed a two-run homer off Brown in the sixth inning, The Associated Press reported. Brent Rooker, who had two hits, added an RBI single off Houston reliever Caleb Ferguson to give the A’s a 5-3 lead. Rooker also had an RBI single in the third inning.

This marked the third straight loss for the Astros. They still lead the American League West Division, but their edge over the Seattle Mariners dropped to four games. Seattle was playing the San Diego Padres at T-Mobile Park late on Wednesday night. Houston has 17 games left to play on its regular-season schedule.

Jake Meyers’ sacrifice fly and an RBI single from Dubón put Houston up 2-0 in the second inning. Oakland’s Max Schuemann committed an error, allowing Yordan Alvarez to score for a 3-2 Astros lead. With Oakland up 5-3, pinch-hitter Kyle Tucker smashed an RBI single to make it 5-4. With runners on first and second, though, A’s reliever Tyler Ferguson got outfielder Ben Gamel to fly out and end the threat.

Joey Estes Gets Win For A’s

Oakland starter Joey Estes (7-7) picked up the victory despite giving up three runs on seven hits in 6 2/3 innings. Miller earned his 24th save this season. A’s hitter Lawrence Butler now has a 19-game hitting streak thanks to a fifth-inning single.

In a Thursday afternoon matchup at Minute Maid Park, Framber Valdez (14-6, 2.97 ERA) goes for the Houston Astros against Oakland starter Mitch Spence (7-9, 4.42 ERA).

Outfielder Chas McCormick wasn’t in the lineup for Houston on Wednesday night. He left Tuesday night’s game with right wrist discomfort. In a pinch, McCormick might have been a possible pinch hitter. But Espada turned to Victor Caratini in the bottom of the ninth. Caratini flew out to right field to make the Astros’ final out.