A's top Astros as Division Lead still up for grabs

Nick Martini's favourite drink

 I like my Martini's shaken but not stirred.

Nick Martini’s road trip was not going well at all. The A’s leadoff hitter was 2-for-20 when he stepped to the plate with one out in the ninth inning Tuesday, and he’d made a costly two-base throwing error the night before.


Martini delivered an RBI double off Roberto Osuna to give the A’s a 4-3 lead over the Astros, and Oakland won by that score, closing the gap in the AL West to 1½ games again. The A’s are a season-high 5½ games ahead of Seattle for the second wild-card spot and 27 games over .500, matching their season high. With a month to play, they’ve ensured themselves a winning record on the road, where they’re 41-27.

The Astros, helped by Martini’s error, had thumped Oakland 11-4 on Monday, but since June 16, the A’s are 9-1 following losses in series openers.

Ramon Laureano started things in the ninth with a one-out walk against Osuna, and Jonathan Lucroy rolled a single just out of Jose Altuve’s reach and into right. That brought up Martini, who hit a ground-rule bouncer to center on the first pitch he got.

“He’s a pretty level-headed kid,” manager Bob Melvin said of Martini. “We’ve seen him go through some tough periods offensively and stay with it and then come up with a good game. Last couple of nights, not his best nights ... but was able to put it away and focus on a particular at-bat. Obviously, that was a huge at-bat.”

Martini, who was still dripping from being doused with “30 gallons of water” in the clubhouse, said he didn’t want to fall behind Osuna, and that looking for something early can be a good way to go when in a funk.

“I think it helps,” he said. “You want to try to swing your way out of it because the deeper you get, the worse things can get. ... I just tried to get one early, and that was that.”

Blake Treinen then worked a 1-2-3 ninth, his 33rd save in 37 chances.

Laureano showed off his arm again in a huge situation. George Springer singled to lead off the eighth, and he tried to go from first to third on Alex Bregman’s single to center, but Laureano nailed him for the first out of the inning, with the game tied.
“He’s shown he’s got a lot of game,” Melvin said. “Obviously, the throw was maybe the biggest play of the game for us.”

Until the ninth, the A’s had done almost nothing since Matt Olson’s three-run blast off Charlie Morton in the third. Oakland’s only hit between that homer and the eighth was an infield single by Laureano in the fourth, and the Astros came back to tie it in the fifth on Bregman’s two-out, two-run double off Edwin Jackson. Jackson, who allowed a run on a groundout in the second, exited and Shawn Kelley got Altuve to ground out to end the inning. Kelley, unscored upon in nine outings with Oakland, also worked a 1-2-3 sixth.

Briefly: Reliever Ryan Dull was recalled from Triple-A Nashville to take Brett Anderson’s roster spot. ... A’s cleanup hitter Khris Davis is 2-for-26 with 12 strikeouts on the trip.