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Al Arabiya
12 hours ago
- Sport
- Al Arabiya
Kurtz Does It Again With Homer Off Hader In 10th To Lift Athletics Over Astros
Nick Kurtz hit a two-run homer off closer Josh Hader in the 10th inning to give the Athletics a 6–4 victory over the Houston Astros on Thursday night. Willie McIver launched his first major league homer and drove in two runs for the Athletics. Lawrence Butler and Jacob Wilson also connected on solo shots as the A's won their fifth in seven games. The A's regrouped after blowing a 4–1 lead in the eighth when Victor Caratini hit a three-run homer with two outs on the first pitch from closer Mason Miller. Tyler Soderstrom began the bottom of the 10th as the automatic runner at second base and moved to third on a wild pitch. Hader (4–1) struck out Max Muncy before Kurtz smashed a 2–1 sinker to center field for his second game-ending homer against Houston in four days. Michael Kelly (1–0) retired three batters for the win. McIver, the A's rookie catcher who made a rare pitching appearance and threw a scoreless inning in relief Tuesday, had another memorable moment when he drilled a 2–0 fastball from Astros starter Colton Gordon over the fence in center. Two batters later, Butler connected for his 11th homer of the season. Key moment: After the A's put runners at the corners with nobody out in the eighth, Astros reliever Bryan Abreu got out of it with consecutive swinging strikeouts and a weak groundout. Key stat: The A's have allowed 70 home runs at Sutter Health Park, the most given up by a home team in the majors this season. Up next: Astros RHP Hunter Brown (8–3, 1.88 ERA) faces the Angels in Anaheim on Friday. Athletics LHP Jeffrey Springs (5–5, 4.52) pitches against the Guardians at home Friday.
Washington Post
17 hours ago
- Sport
- Washington Post
Kurtz does it again with homer off Hader in 10th to lift Athletics over Astros
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Nick Kurtz hit a two-run homer off closer Josh Hader in the 10th inning to give the Athletics a 6-4 victory over the Houston Astros on Thursday night. Willie McIver launched his first major league homer and drove in two runs for the Athletics. Lawrence Butler and Jacob Wilson also connected on solo shots as the A's won their fifth in seven games. The A's regrouped after blowing a 4-1 lead in the eighth when Victor Caratini hit a three-run homer with two outs on the first pitch from closer Mason Miller. Tyler Soderstrom began the bottom of the 10th as the automatic runner at second base and moved to third on a wild pitch. Hader (4-1) struck out Max Muncy before Kurtz smashed a 2-1 sinker to center field for his second game-ending homer against Houston in four days. Michael Kelly (1-0) retired three batters for the win. McIver, the A's rookie catcher who made a rare pitching appearance and threw a scoreless inning in relief Tuesday, had another memorable moment when he drilled a 2-0 fastball from Astros starter Colton Gordon over the fence in center. Two batters later, Butler connected for his 11th homer of the season. After the A's put runners at the corners with nobody out in the eighth, Astros reliever Bryan Abreu got out of it with consecutive swinging strikeouts and a weak groundout. The A's have allowed 70 home runs at Sutter Health Park, the most given up by a home team in the majors this season. Astros RHP Hunter Brown (8-3, 1.88 ERA) faces the Angels in Anaheim on Friday. Athletics LHP Jeffrey Springs (5-5, 4.52) pitches against the Guardians at home Friday. ___ AP MLB:
Associated Press
17 hours ago
- Sport
- Associated Press
Kurtz does it again with homer off Hader in 10th to lift Athletics over Astros
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — Nick Kurtz hit a two-run homer off closer Josh Hader in the 10th inning to give the Athletics a 6-4 victory over the Houston Astros on Thursday night. Willie McIver launched his first major league homer and drove in two runs for the Athletics. Lawrence Butler and Jacob Wilson also connected on solo shots as the A's won their fifth in seven games. The A's regrouped after blowing a 4-1 lead in the eighth when Victor Caratini hit a three-run homer with two outs on the first pitch from closer Mason Miller. Tyler Soderstrom began the bottom of the 10th as the automatic runner at second base and moved to third on a wild pitch. Hader (4-1) struck out Max Muncy before Kurtz smashed a 2-1 sinker to center field for his second game-ending homer against Houston in four days. Michael Kelly (1-0) retired three batters for the win. McIver, the A's rookie catcher who made a rare pitching appearance and threw a scoreless inning in relief Tuesday, had another memorable moment when he drilled a 2-0 fastball from Astros starter Colton Gordon over the fence in center. Two batters later, Butler connected for his 11th homer of the season. Key moment After the A's put runners at the corners with nobody out in the eighth, Astros reliever Bryan Abreu got out of it with consecutive swinging strikeouts and a weak groundout. Key stat The A's have allowed 70 home runs at Sutter Health Park, the most given up by a home team in the majors this season. Up next Astros RHP Hunter Brown (8-3, 1.88 ERA) faces the Angels in Anaheim on Friday. Athletics LHP Jeffrey Springs (5-5, 4.52) pitches against the Guardians at home Friday. ___ AP MLB:
New York Times
2 days ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Which Houston Astros players' stock is up, down as summer approaches?
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — An inevitable outcome to some and impossible to explain for others, the Houston Astros have reprised their role as an American League force. The winter witnessed them trade their best player before allowing a franchise cornerstone to sign elsewhere. Seven starting pitchers reside on the injured list alongside the team's most feared slugger. Somehow, with a skeleton roster and nonexistent depth, the Astros are atop a division they've long dominated. Advertisement Jeremy Peña is playing like an MVP candidate, even if Aaron Judge's hulking presence in the American League gives him little chance to win the award. Josh Hader is again baseball's best closer. Both Framber Valdez and Hunter Brown are bona fide Cy Young Award candidates. Jose Altuve is a left fielder — and having fun doing it. Remarkable run prevention has paired with an opportune offense to create a 4 1/2-game cushion atop the American League West. Here is a stock report after 72 games. Team officials entered the offseason with an objective to improve a defense that deteriorated last season. Trading one Gold Glove winner and failing to re-sign another ran counter to the claim. Yet, without Kyle Tucker and Alex Bregman, the Astros have transformed into the best defensive team in the American League. According to Baseball Savant, only the St. Louis Cardinals entered Tuesday worth more outs above average than the 19 Houston has accumulated. The Astros finished last season worth minus-3 outs above average. Adding three-time Gold Glove first baseman Christian Walker afforded an obvious boost following Bregman's departure. So did hiring the coach who Walker credits for developing his defensive game. First-year third-base coach Tony Perezchica has drawn rave reviews within Houston's clubhouse for his work with a retooled Astros infield that is now among baseball's best. After finishing last season worth minus-19 outs above average, Houston's infield is worth plus-13. Only the Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates are better in that metric. Walker living up to his pedigree has helped. So has Perezchica's work with third baseman Isaac Paredes, who has stopped much of his pre-pitch movement and become far more efficient in his first step toward ground balls. The team never expected Paredes to match Bregman's defensive wizardry, but what he's done has exceeded most internal expectations. And Peña, a Gold Glover in 2022, has improved every defensive metric from last season — something manager Joe Espada has credited to Perezchica. Still, no offseason act is more meaningful than Altuve accepting a move off of second base, where he finished last season worth minus-9 outs above average. Now, Altuve is playing a position where Houston knew he'd be less involved. He has received just 53 chances during his 35 starts in left field. For reference, Athletics left fielder Tyler Soderstrom has received 78 in 34 starts. Advertisement Altuve is still worth a major-league low minus-8 defensive runs saved in left field, but the lack of action he receives mitigates the misery. That both center fielder Jake Meyers and right fielder Cam Smith rank among the best defenders at their respective positions also helps to hide Altuve's inexperience. Including a player with 32 games of professional experience on the Opening Day roster indicated Houston had patience. At times, Smith's search for consistency will test it. His rookie season is a case study in restraint — refusing to overreact with every peak and valley he authors. Smith hit two home runs against the San Diego Padres on April 18. He took 147 at-bats before hitting two more on Tuesday as part of a four-hit game at Sutter Health Park. In between the outbursts, Smith slugged .338 and struck out 46 times across a 43-game sample. Smith's true talent is probably somewhere in the middle. Potential oozes from him, but putting it all together still eludes him. The Astros anticipated this and constructed a roster that doesn't require Smith to be a superhuman. The trade deadline could deliver a more difficult discussion. Houston will be in the market for a left-handed bat. If the one it acquires is an outfielder, Smith's offensive approach will have to improve if he wants to retain everyday playing time instead of a platoon. Smith is struggling to make consistent contact and, when he does make it, is hitting far too many ground balls. He entered Tuesday seeing 49 percent fastballs and a 55.3 percent groundball rate against them. Smith's 30 percent whiff rate is five percentage points above major-league average. Against sliders, he is whiffing at a 39.3 percent rate. Smith is making contact on just 45.9 percent of the pitches he swings at outside the strike zone — almost 12 percentage points below the major-league average. Advertisement Smith remains a revelation in right field, where he is worth nine defensive runs saved, according to Sports Info Solutions. His routes aren't always perfect, but Smith's superb athleticism allows him to compensate. Some of Smith's throws have sailed the cutoff man or gone to the wrong base. He is living and learning — part of being patient. What began as a player pressing in the first season of a sizable contract has blossomed into one of Houston's biggest problems. Walker's ineffectiveness has encompassed the entire season, eliminating the excuses of 'it's early' or 'getting adjusted to a new clubhouse.' Walker awoke on Tuesday worth minus-0.6 wins above replacement, according to Baseball-Reference. Only 35 qualified players were worth less. Just two of them — Salvador Perez and Bryan Reynolds — have taken more plate appearances than Walker. He reached base thrice on Tuesday against the A's, inflating his OPS to .653. Walker has hit third, fourth or fifth in every game he's played. Upon Yordan Alvarez's return from the injured list, a case can be made Walker should hit sixth, a spot few envisioned for a first baseman Houston paid $60 million this winter. Fortune hasn't favored Walker, who entered Tuesday with a .438 expected slugging percentage and an actual mark of .359. His .269 batting average on balls in play is 26 percentage points below major-league average, too, but blaming bad luck for Walker's brutal season is misguided. Walker is being beaten with elevated four-seam fastballs — a pitch he pummeled last season — and striking out at a 28.4 percent clip. He's never finished a full season with anything higher than a 25.7 percent strikeout rate. Walker is hitting .211 and slugging just .408 against four-seam fastballs. (Top photo of Christian Walker: Troy Taormina / Imagn Images)
New York Times
5 days ago
- Sport
- New York Times
Brice Matthews' timeline, draft pick compensation and ‘dudes just doing it': Astros takeaways
HOUSTON — Spring training is a time to ponder all possibilities, every permutation of how the ensuing seven months of a baseball season may unfold. Clubs consider everything and eliminate nothing, the byproduct of playing a sport renowned for its randomness. Still, anyone inside the Houston Astros' infrastructure is kidding if they claim to have predicted this. A team crippled by injuries and held together by castoffs continues to win, ascending to a place it always seems to be. Advertisement More than half of Houston's starting rotation is on the injured list, its home run leader has a bad hamstring and its best hitter hasn't appeared in a game since May 2. The Astros are somehow 41-30 and trail the Detroit Tigers by four games for the American League's best record. 'The history of the Astros, dudes just do it,' closer Josh Hader said. 'This organization finds a way to do it.' Hader holding the Minnesota Twins scoreless in the 10th inning is perhaps the only predictable outcome from Sunday afternoon. A backup catcher in a 3-for-32 funk hit cleanup while two journeymen on minor-league deals batted seventh and ninth. Houston struck four singles as a result. 'We know how to win,' said Mauricio Dubón, who collected the last one, walking off the Twins in the 10th inning. 'We don't stop fighting. We come in the ninth inning and try to make it happen. That's the mentality we have over here.' All-Star Energy. #VoteDubi x — Houston Astros (@astros) June 15, 2025 Dubón delivered Houston's ninth win this season in its final at-bat. The team already has 20 come-from-behind wins in its first 71 games. It had 35 total last season. The Astros have won 13 one-run games after winning just 18 last year. Fortune is involved, yes, but premier pitching is propelling it. No staff in the sport has struck out more batters than Houston's, even with three members of the rotation sitting on the injured list. On Sunday, a left-hander named Brandon Walter, in the second year of a minor-league deal he signed last August, allowed one run across 6 2/3 innings. His ERA is 1.53 after three starts as an Astro. 'You just know they're going to pitch good here, because it's how it is,' Walter said. 'It's contagious.' Vibes are contagious for a club that's won five straight and 10 of its past 14 with a skeleton crew. Somewhere between spent and scintillated sits its manager, who plopped down for Sunday's postgame news conference and let out an exhale. 'Speechless,' he said. A slew of injuries in their outfield allowed the Astros to summon prospect Jacob Melton for what was supposed to be an extended runway of playing time. Melton sprained his ankle Friday, spoiling the plan. When Melton did, another path for a prospect opened. The Astros did not seize it, bypassing infielder Brice Matthews in favor of journeymen veterans Cooper Hummel and Luis Guillorme. Advertisement Logic suggested the Astros could've moved Dubón into a primary outfield role during Melton's absence, allowing Matthews close to everyday playing time at second base. That Matthews entered Sunday slashing .307/.408/.604 across his past 120 plate appearances at Triple-A Sugar Land only furthered some thought that the former first-round pick could be on the precipice of a call-up. Matthews' lack of consistent contact prevented it, general manager Dana Brown said Sunday. After posting a 67.2 percent contact rate last year, Matthews is making contact just 67.3 percent of the time at Triple A this season. Only three qualified major-league hitters entered Sunday with a lower contact rate. Strikeouts and swing decisions have long been Matthews' biggest enemies, though this season he has slashed his strikeout rate from 31.4 percent to 28.5 percent. He is chasing outside the strike zone just 20.2 percent of the time, too — 8 percent below major-league average. 'It's a combination of swing decisions and sometimes he chases a little bit,' Brown told the team's pregame radio show Sunday. 'He's swinging the bat well, and he's starting to make more contact, and if it continues to trend in that direction, it could get interesting. Maybe he'll force our hand. It's really good to see that he's swinging the bat well in Triple A.' Without prompt, Brown also mentioned Matthews' success on the road, which is crucial in analyzing any of the Astros' performers at Triple-A Sugar Land. The Pacific Coast League is regarded as a hitter's paradise, especially in atmospheres like those in Albuquerque, El Paso or Reno. Matthews entered Sunday's game at Reno slugging .672 with a 1.117 OPS in 146 road plate appearances. In 93 plate appearances at Constellation Field — a ballpark that isn't nearly as hitter-friendly as others in its league — Matthews is slashing .171/.323/.197. He has 35 strikeouts in 76 home at-bats and 33 across his 119 on the road. Advertisement Brown has been prone to promoting prospects at a breakneck pace, especially those he's acquired or drafted during his tenure. He selected Matthews with his first draft pick as Houston's general manager and has made it clear he holds the 23-year-old infielder in high regard. Matthews is viewed as Houston's heir apparent at second base in the wake of Jose Altuve's switch to left field. Only 10 major-league teams entered Sunday extracting a lower OPS from their second basemen than the Astros, who could seek to upgrade the position during next month's trade deadline. Perhaps by then, Matthews is making enough contact to make that pursuit moot. Saturday's 3-2 win accentuated two of the Astros' most promising young players. Hunter Brown struck out a career-high 12 batters across seven stellar innings before Cam Smith collected the first walk-off hit of his major-league career. Brown's ERA is 1.88 after his first 14 starts of the season. According to Baseball-Reference, Smith is worth 1.1 wins above replacement. Only three Astros position players have accumulated more. That present production could also benefit Houston's future. Both Brown and Smith are eligible for Major League Baseball's prospect promotion incentive, adopted during the most recent collective bargaining agreement in an effort to discourage service time manipulation. Smith's eligibility had at least some influence on Houston's decision to put him on the Opening Day roster. Brown is eligible after debuting in September 2022, retaining his rookie status and then accruing a full year of service time in 2023. Though Major League Baseball's official website says 'there is a limit of one PPI pick per organization,' two league sources confirmed this week that language is somewhat unclear. Players themselves can only give their team one PPI pick in their careers, but if both Smith and Brown accomplish the feat this season, Houston will receive two extra picks after the first round of the 2026 draft. Advertisement Doing so would inject life into a farm system that needs it, though accomplishing it feels arduous. Brown needs to finish in the top three of American League Cy Young voting — a path that appears far more realistic than Smith's. Brown owns the American League's lowest ERA, fourth-lowest WHIP and is holding opponents to a .182 batting average. Only Carlos Rodón has been harder to hit among American League starters. Even if Tarik Skubal remains the favorite to repeat as the American League Cy Young winner, it is easy to envision a world where Brown finishes within the top three of voting — all that's needed to get a draft pick. Brown must maintain his dominance while monitoring the progress of Skubal, Max Fried, Garrett Crochet, Kris Bubic and Jacob deGrom. For Smith to secure a pick, he must either win American League Rookie of the Year or finish in the top three of MVP voting. If the season ended today, Smith wouldn't factor in. Jacob Wilson, Carlos Narváez, Chase Meidroth, Shane Smith and Will Warren all entered Sunday worth more WAR than Smith among American League rookies. Ground must be made up, but Smith has the runway to accomplish it. (Photo of Brice Matthews during spring training: Joe Robbins / Icon Sportswire via AP Images)
